Queen of Steel
The Queen of Steel is an annual corporate ritual. We appreciate our best employees there. This year's Queen of Steel awarded sixty-two employees for their outstanding work and looked back on the most important events of 2022.
To the rhythm of the slogan "Life is a jungle - and the jungle is the queen - the Queen of Steel", the programme of the gala evening of the Queen of Steel 2022 flowed. It highlighted strength, bravery, courage and did not forget about teamwork, the qualities that brought the best individuals and teams from the Moravia Steel-Třinecké železárny Group to the stage of the Trisia House of Culture. The show, interwoven with exotic elements, was moderated by Barbora Černošková.
The management of the MS-TŽ Group honoured 62 employees last year. The awards were presented to them by Petr Popelář, Chairman of the MS Board of Directors, and Jan Czudek, who served as Chairman of the TŽ Board of Directors until 3 April this year. Words of appreciation and congratulations went not only to the awardees. Not only Petr Popelář wished the former CEO of TŽ excellent cooperation, inspiring work, good health and more time for rest, but also the whole audience gave Jan Czudek a standing ovation.
PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
The statuette of the Queen of Steel 2022 in the category of Personality of the Year 2022 was awarded to Petr Faruzel, Head of the Innovation Department of the Strategy and Marketing Department of Třinecké železárny. At the smelter, he has worked as a steelworker at the Continuous Casting Plant, as a technologist in the Iron and Steel Production Plant, and managed the Blast Furnace Centre.
Since 2020, he has been the Head of Innovation in the Strategy and Marketing Department. He has been influential in putting new technologies into practice and is involved in projects related to reducing the carbon footprint. A striking example is the upcoming construction of a briquetting line to replace the existing steel sinter plant, or projects in the field of dust recycling.
PROJECT OF THE YEAR
The project of the year 2022 was the commissioning of the modern automatic steel bar peeling line New Finishing Line of Bright Bars II in TŽ. The Queen of Steel in this category was awarded to Marek Maroszczyk and Lumír Spratek from the hands of TŽ Production Director Česlav Marek.
EVENT OF THE YEAR
Following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February 2022, it was necessary to continuously ensure a sufficient supply of raw materials, especially iron ore, to maintain production and employment at TŽ and its subsidiaries. This was successfully ensured thanks to the intensive mutual cooperation of the representatives of MS Trade and Transport, key suppliers of raw materials and the TŽ Iron and Steel Works operations.
The award and the Queen of Steel statuette were received by Albert Köszeghy for Zaporizhzhya iron ore plant, Peter Planý for Minerfin and Jan Kantor for Operations. In addition to the award recipients, the award also goes to the employees of MS Trade and Transport. Evžen Balko, 2nd Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TŽ and Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of MS, who presented the award, pointed out the absurdity and sad circumstances of the situation, which the awarded parties managed to withstand.
THE BEST IN OCCUPATIONAL STRATEGY
In the field of health and safety (OSH), the MS-TŽ management traditionally awarded in two categories. The presenters were Ivo Žižka, TŽ's Director of HR and External Relations, and Marcel Pielesz, Chairman of TŽ's OS KOVO Unions.
The best TŽ operation in OSH was the Steel Mill in Staré Město, represented by its manager Petr Lapčík. The plant has been showing excellent results in OSH for a long time, last year it did not record a single work accident and the number of minor injuries decreased by a third.
Energetika Třinec was another leader in OSH, winning among the subsidiaries. The company has had consistently good OSH performance over the last three years, recording less than one workplace accident per year on average. The Queen of Steel was accepted by Energetika Třinec's director Petr Matuszek.
SUCCESS BEYOND THE GATE
The reconstruction of the road overpass on Závodní Street in Třinec, a joint project of Třinecké železárny and the City of Třinec, was the best achievement of 2022 outside the factory gates. The Queen of Steel was received on behalf of TŽ by Radim Klimša and the Mayor of Třinec Věra Palkovská.
PERSONALITY OF THE TŽ–MS GROUP
František Červenka, Director of the VIVA Forge, received the title of MS-TŽ Group Personality from Evžen Balko. He received the award for his long-standing managerial activity with exceptional results in the companies of the MS-TŽ Group, especially in Šroubárna Kyjov and Kovárna VIVA in Zlín. His professional achievements are evidenced, among other things, by his award in the Manager of the Year 2015 competition.
STATUETTE FOR DYNAMIC DEVELOPMENT
The company boasting the title of the most dynamically developing subsidiary of the MS-TŽ Group in 2022 is Metalurgia, based in Radomsko, Poland. The company with nearly 150 years of tradition in wire processing has been a member of the Group since 2009.
Thanks to its current development activities and the diversification of its production portfolio, the company has achieved the best economic results in its history for the period from 2020 to 2022. Marek Siemiński, Marek Tacina and Krzysztof Pabich from the company's Board of Directors received the award from TŽ's Technical Director Henryk Huczala.
YOUNG ATHLETE
Queen Steel also rewards successful athletes, individuals and teams. The imaginary gold in the Young Athlete of the Year category belonged to Roman Bača from Golf Club Třinec, who, however, was unable to attend the event due to his participation in the most important Czech golf series in Zbraslav. The prize, presented by Radomíra Pekárková, financial director of TŽ, was accepted on his behalf by the club secretary Vojtěch Wolny.
ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
The Athlete of the Year category was won by Marek Chrascina from TJ TŽ Třinec, who is the 2022 Czech champion in cross-country running.
SPORTS TEAM
However, there was double joy in the Sports Collective category. The Queen of Steel went to representatives of Golf Club Třinec and HC Oceláři Třinec. The statuettes were presented to them by Ján Moder, 1st Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TŽ and Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of MS.
The women's team from Golf Club Třinec won the Women's Extraliga for the fourth time in a row last year and also finished third in the European Champions Tournament. The U18 boys' team also won the title and the U18 girls added silver.
HC Oceláři Třinec has been achieving excellent results for a long time, both in the case of the A-team, which won its 4th title in a row this year, and also in the youth teams. The juniors won the 2nd place, the juniors won the championship title and the 9th class took bronze in their category.
SYMBOLIC HANDING OVER THE KEYS
At the end of the gala, the CEO's speech was not missing. Because there was a change in this post this year, the current director Jan Czudek and his successor Roman Heide appeared on stage and continued the jungle in his speech. "It is uncompromising and tough, on the other hand it is full of life and energy, just like TŽ-MS. I believe that with the employees who stood here today and with those I have met or will meet, I will have the privilege of walking through the jungle that consumes us and wants us to be greener and yet just as efficient. He ended his remarks by thanking his predecessor for his trust and for handing over the key to the factory, which he had prepared in Polish.
