HS Timber Group supported social projects to the tune of over 3.9 million Euro in 2020

• HS Timber Group financed social projects worth more than 3.9 million Euro in 2020
• Health, education, social and environmental services were a priority for the Group
• HS Timber Group’s sponsorships amounted to more than 10.8 million Euro between 2010 and 2020

HS Timber Group, a company present in Romania with five wood processing units, has sponsored social projects to the tune of over 3.9 million Euro in Romania in 2020 alone.

“The responsibility for the regions where we operate is part of our mission and vision. As 2020 was an unpredictable year and the local communities have faced delicate situations, in addition to traditional projects, we have also supported initiatives and initiatives to address the immediate needs caused by the pandemic,” said Dan Bănacu, General Manager of HS Timber Productions Romania. “We are aware of the social and economic realities which the communities in the areas of or mills face, and in the previous year, we have also looked at improving their access to proper social, educational and health services.”

In Rădăuți, the Group supports the activities carried out by the Maria Ward Social Centre to prevent school and family dropout among more than 50 children in the municipality and surrounding towns. The support aims to equip the centre with IT equipment, furniture for children, books and dictionaries, as well as other important facilities such as a refrigerator, washing machines and dryers. The sponsorship also covers the necessary maintenance work of the building and sports field.

In Siret, HS Timber Group supports the project of home care services for people in need, carried out by the Social Assistance Department. This project aims to increase the quality of life for the elderly and those with disabilities, without relatives, and who need help in terms of personal hygiene, food or food supply. Also, the beneficiaries included in the programme will receive a hot meal and will benefit from consultation and evaluation from the nurse, social worker and orderly. Also, within the sponsored project, a vehicle has been purchased, to serve the activities of the mobile team.

In Comănești, the company supported the therapy and recovery activities carried out by the Robert Cole Association with over 80 children with disabilities from Valea Trotușului. Here, the centre's team of speech therapists, physiotherapists and psycho-pedagogues attracts children not only during the school year, but also during the holidays. On average, each child spends 45 minutes in an activity and a quarter of an hour is allocated to parental counselling.

The Reci sawmill supported a variety of projects in the village, such as financing after-school activities, equipping the medical office, conducting an impact study for the biodiversity rehabilitation project in some locations in the Mestecănișul Reci Natura 2000 nature reserve site and the endowment of the Voluntary Service for Emergency Situations of Reci.

All this is in addition to the support with wooden products for local communities, such as pellets for heating the Siret Hospital and St. Stephen's Social Centre in Saniob, blockboards and solid wood products for school furniture, but also renovation, maintenance or the creation of new facilities such as the reading space in the home for the elderly in Sebeș.

True to the motto “Together!”, in 2020, the company joined local authorities, in their efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. The Group has donated two molecular biology laboratories to the hospitals in Comănești and Sfântu Gheorghe, as well as medical equipment and sanitary materials for the hospitals in the five locations where the company operates wood processing units, respectively Sebeș, Rădăuți, Siret, Comănești and Reci.

András-Nagy Róbert, the manager of the Dr. Fogolyán Kristóf Emergency County Hospital in Sfântu Gheorghe explains: “The molecular biology laboratory helps to diagnose COVID-19 faster, and by installing this line we brought the tests closer to Sfântu Gheorghe. If, initially, after collecting the samples we had to wait for the test results for a few days, by using this device the result comes in two - maximum four hours, with a probability of 100%." The manager added that the equipment can be used to diagnose other medical conditions, not only in the case of COVID-19 and that, when the current crisis ends, it will be useful to several medical specialties from the hospital.

These projects are joined by over 1,000 tablets with enabled Internet access for children from 32 schools in 13 counties. The beneficiaries of the donation are socially-disadvantaged children who did not have adequate equipment to participate in the online educational process.

In addition to social, educational and health projects, HS Timber Group also supports environmental initiatives, such as those run by the Tomorrow’s Forest Foundation, which in 2020 included: the Reforestation Programme for forest land with regeneration difficulties, the Community Development Programme, the Responsible Forestry Programme and the Wood Traceability Programme. With the support of HS Timber Productions S.R.L., in 2020 the foundation has set up a special fund for the implementation of social and environmental projects connected to forest and forest based communities in Romania. Projects will be developed together with stakeholders and will start in the course of 2021.

“Our commitment to the community is a long-term one and, as HS Timber Group is a reliable employer and an economic pole – especially in the economically-disadvantaged areas – our support for the local communities will continue,” concluded Dan Bănacu.

The sponsorships of HS Timber Group in Romania amounted to about 10.8 million Euro between 2010 and 2020.

About HS Timber Group
HS Timber Group is a long-established wood processing company of Austrian origin with very strong roots in Central and Eastern Europe, especially Romania. Today, the Group primarily operates in the timber industry, but is also involved in lumber trading and bioenergy production. It operates three sawmills and two wooden panel production units in Romania, as well as one sawmill in Germany. Employing around 4,000 people, HS Timber Group is one of Europe’s leading wood processing companies. The Group’s products are sold in around 70 countries across the world. Transparency and an ethically correct behaviour are cornerstones of the company’s security architecture. HS Timber Group GmbH is a company of the Evergreen Private Foundation.

For more details:
Luciana Petrescu
Head of Public Relations
luciana.petrescu[at]hs.ro
Tel. +40 725 352 700