Warsaw Voice - Culturally Responsible

22 October 2005

PKN Orlen President Igor Chalupec talks to Feliks Misiak

Orlen’s contribution to the prestigious Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition strengthens the position of the company as a patron of the arts. Will PKN Orlen take more steps like these in the future?
We hope that our cooperation with the Chopin Competition organizers will not end this year, but continue in the long term with the aim to further supporting this exceptional cultural event and promoting Polish musical talent.
The best Polish pianist will obtain this year a scholarship amounting to 25,000 euros funded by the company. How do you encourage other Polish firms to follow in Orlen’s footsteps and decide to grant support of a similar scale to young, talents?
Combining the image of a Polish business leader with the values of Polish culture has become an integral part of our company’s mission and determines our further actions. I think that many companies do this too, because these kinds of actions prove their maturity. Therefore we have recognized it our duty to support young, talented people, all the more considering the limited means at their disposal in comparison with foreign colleagues. Besides, every one of us is aware that sponsoring and promoting culture and supporting young artists standing at the threshold of their career carries an incommensurable potential of manifold benefits for the country and for us all, in particular for future generations.
PKN Orlen co-financed in December 2004 the purchase at a Sotheby’s auction in London of a manuscript of an etude by Chopin, and today it is the competition’s sponsor. Does that mean that Orlen wants to be a patron of Polish culture?
As the leading Polish company, implementing under its mission the program Mecenas Kultury (Patron of Culture), we feel in a special way committed to supporting undertakings that, on account of their position, promote Polish culture in the world - and Chopin’s music is its excellent exponent.
How does your company understand corporate social responsibility and how do you put it into action?
We attentively follow what is going on around us. We try to financially engage in undertakings that are important for the community. We are a patron of the National Museum - a treasury of most valuable collections in Poland and Central Europe. We have helped save medieval old prints of the Płock Diocesan Museum and a historical Orthodox church in Lublin. We make efforts to activate local communities as part of undertakings such as the Forum for Płock. We support and promote the activities of orphanages, and we are also active for the sake of improving road safety. This is how we perceive our corporate social responsibility.