Mining company OKD last year deepened its loss from the previous year’s 861 million to 2.437 billion crowns. The volume of production for the company decreased year-on-year from 3.65 million to 2.37 million tons of coal and revenues from the sale of its own products and services from 11.3 billion to 6.15 billion crowns. The company stated this in its annual report published in the Collection of Documents. The company planned slightly higher production for last year than in 2019, but the coronavirus pandemic radically changed the situation. According to the chairwoman of the board of directors, Vanda Staňková, the recovery in the coal market is now noticeable.
Staňková stated that when preparing the business plan for 2020, the company emphasized the need for restructuring and cost reduction. Due to market conditions, it was not possible to expect to achieve a positive economic result, the goal was to achieve such results that will allow mining to continue in the coming years.
“In 2020, we were not only faced with the task of maintaining the very existence of OKD, but also defending our steps, keeping people at least temporarily, but also doing everything for them to make them and their families feel safe. We managed restructuring, we managed again get up and we have implemented an extremely demanding project to transfer part of the plant, “said Staňková in the annual report.
She reminded that the company had to face complications related to the coronavirus pandemic throughout the year, due to which it had to stop operations for several weeks in the summer. “Illness, quarantines, suppliers of mining and construction work from Poland or Slovakia due to government restrictions on cross-border movement at home, all this caused huge losses in production, which could no longer be caught up during the year,” said Staňková.
A mining pandemic affected last year’s mining plans. “Lost mining accounted for about a third of the planned target in 2020; a total of 1.861 million tons were mined at OKD,” said the chairwoman of the board. At the same time, coal prices on the market fell. In 2019, the company mined 3.15 million tons of coal.
Staňková stated that from the historical development of the coal market it can be deduced that after the pandemic subsides, there will be a recovery. The company will then be able to meet the long-term strategy of socially responsible cessation of coal mining in the region. “We have overcome the worst period and we are currently witnessing a recovery in the coal market. At the same time, we are focusing on meeting production forces for the next period. to control the financial demands of the operation and at the same time to preserve social peace and to behave correctly and honestly towards our employees, “said Staňková.
OKD is the only producer of hard coal in the Czech Republic. He gradually ends mining because it does not pay off. This year, the company stopped mining in the ČSA and Darkov mines, and coal is mined only in the ČSM Mine, where it is to be mined at least until the end of next year. OKD is owned by the state through Prisko.
At the end of 2020, the company had almost 5,400 employees of its own, and more than 1,400 employees of supply companies still worked in the mines in the Karviná region. OKD now has approximately 2,800 of its own employees and approximately 800 suppliers.