SIGNIFICANT SHARE OF PIVARA SKOPJE IN THE SUCCESS OF COCA-COLA HBC
Coca-Cola HBC, which includes Pivara Skopje AD, solidified as second in the world among beverage producers in the portfolio of Coca-Cola with annual sales of 2 billion unit cases of beverages to 589 million consumers in 28 countries. The latest integrated report of Coca-Cola HBC for 2014 shows this, as it reports on the performance of the corporation in all segments of the business, governance and sustainability for the first time.
“We know that our success is closely linked to the vibrancy and wellbeing of our consumers and the communities we serve. For more than 10 years we have continuously refined our approach to managing our business responsibly and sustainably, ensuring trust by creating creating value for all our stakeholders. This value is increasingly shaped by factors such as social and environmental responsibility, investments in human resource development and engagement of all stakeholders. All these activities further contribute to our business success,” said Dimitris Lois, Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola HBC.
In addition to considerable achievements in the business in 2014, the corporation has also shown remarkable performance in sustainability initiatives that focused on three key areas: promoting health and wellness, minimizing environmental impact and benefiting local communities. Among other things, last year 5.8 million EUR were invested in projects that provided savings of more than 1.1 billion cubic meters of water. As part of this saving, the share of the plant for bio treatment of water in Pivara Skopje is significant. Additionally, the largest Macedonian producer of soft drinks and beer participated in programs for conserving energy in which last year 4.3 million EUR were invested. With the procurement of new coolers that do not use gases that pollute the environment, Pivara Skopje contributed to real reduction of the carbon footprint by 7.8% compared to 2013.
Additionally, Pivara Skopje participated in the total investment of Coca-Cola HBC of 8.7 million EUR in the implementation of projects significant to local communities. Pivara Skopje got the National occupational health and safety award in 2014 for its commitment to realization such projects.
“We are particularly proud that, following the example of Coca-Cola HBC, we invested in projects that are important to the people and the community to which we belong. More than 3,300 young people in the country passed through our Program for education and training so far, and through the Cola-Cola Cup we enabled over 1,500 students to feel the benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle. We included additional 700 students in our Program for occupational health and safety. This is only a fraction of our real contribution to spread the joy as global mission of Coca-Cola, but also an excellent parameter of how we understand our company’s success and what we are setting as the foundation of our future development,” said the General Manager of Pivara Skopje Aleksandar Ruzhevikj.
Coca-Cola HBC was recently named the best in the world among companies producing beverages for 2014 by The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. At the same time, second year in a row Pivara Skopje won the award for quality and sustainable development, which is the highest individual achievement in this field in the Coca-Cola system.
