Kosice, December 5, 2011 - U. S. Steel Kosice's year-round charity activities culminate in the Christmas events for non-profit organizations and hundreds of children in the East Slovakian region. Kosice Fairy-tale Christmas is being opened by St. Nicholas on Main Street on December 5th. The lively entertainment program for children and their parents starts by the Immaculata column at 5 pm. The main organizers of the event are the City of Kosice together with the steel company.

At the same time the U. S. Steel Kosice Charity Hut will be opened on Main Street as well, where from December 5th to 22nd the Company will be giving the opportunity to 18 non-profit organizations to present their activities to the general public. The Company is also organizing fund-raising to promote their further development. The hut will be staffed by volunteers from the ranks of our employees and the students receiving Company support for their studies at college or university. Presenting their activities and services to Kosice residents and visitors will be children's foster homes, civic associations for disabled children and adults, and educational and ecological organizations. On the very first day, December 5th, people will be able to contribute towards the purchase of equipment for the Intensive Care Clinic at the Kosice Children's Hospital.

The fund-raising for this health-care institution during the pre-Christmas period is also being supported by the Kosice steelmakers. The proceeds from their collection will be trebled, since the same sum as the amount already collected by around 7 000 employees will also be contributed by the Company itself and by the U. S. Steel Kosice Foundation. Kosice Children's Hospital Director Peter Krcho will find out the resulting total sum during the Wishing Tree Charity Concert on Friday, December 9th, in the Kosice State Theater. He will be presented with a symbolic check on behalf of the employees by U. S. Steel Kosice President David J. Rintoul. Last year's joint financial gift was used to buy a special laser instrument and camera for the Opthalmology Department on Rastislavova Street and the Eye Clinic on SNP Drive belonging to the Louis Pasteur University Hospital in Kosice.

Wishing Trees have become a Christmas tradition for the steelmakers. They have been used since 2006 in an attempt to make the year's most beautiful holidays more pleasant for children in need. Employees take cards bearing children's wishes from the Wishing Trees placed around the steelworks, and they do what they can to fulfill those wishes. This year they will be making a total of 136 children happy at the St. Klement Hofbauer Foster Home in Podolinec, the Uralska Street Foster Home in Kosice, and in ten socially-deprived families in Kosice as well. The most frequent wishes of these boys and girls are for toys, cosmetics, school items and sports gear. The foster homes will be getting financial support amounting to 9 000 euros each, and the same sum will be donated to the Archdiocesan Charity in Kosice to help families in difficult social situations.

"Christmas charity activities are the culmination of our company's and our employees' social responsibility towards the region that we live and work in. Together with other altruistic people who are not indifferent to the fate of less fortunate people, we can improve living conditions around ourselves and jointly overcome the challenges facing us," says U. S. Steel Kosice President David J. Rintoul, commenting on the Company's philanthropical activities.

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Further information:

Jan Baca
spokesman
U. S. Steel Kosice, s.r.o.
Tel.: +421 55 673 4476
Fax: +421 55 673 0330