Lek’s Site in Prevalje Welcomed a Number of Local Residents

Zlatko Ajd, Head Anti-infectives Prevalje, and Katarina Klemenc, Head Corporate Communications, presented the visitors with details of the site’s development, which has been particularly intense recently, as well as the latest investment in building a new factory. It will stand in the close vicinity of the existing facilities and will significantly pronounce Lek’s Prevalje site in the coming years. The foundation stone laying ceremony will be held on Tuesday, April 11, 2017. The visitors also had an opportunity to get acquainted with the new employment opportunities and career paths presented by Maja Sušec, head of the Prevalje analytical laboratory for quality control.

Lek’s site in Prevalje manufactures a finished pharmaceutical product, a broad-spectrum antibiotic that belongs to the most important of Sandoz products and is sold in more than 60 most demanding markets around the world. Due to high demand for this product, the production volume has been continuously growing, reaching an average of more than ten-percent annual growth. 

Lek’s site in Prevalje has developed to become one of the key economic entities in Carinthia and positioned itself as a stable employer, one of the most important in the region. Over the last four years, the number of employees has increased by 40%. More than 95% of the employees come from the municipalities of the Mežica and Drava valley; more than half of them are women. Currently, there are more than 240 employees and employment will continue to expand.

For more than four decades, Lek Prevalje has been actively involved in the life of the local community. In recent years, Lek has helped a number of associations and institutions, including the Voluntary Fire Brigades Prevalje; Mountain Rescue Service –Prevalje Unit; Regional Red Cross Committee; Prevalje Home for the Elderly; Prevalje Volleyball Club; Primary School Franjo Golob Prevalje; Primary School Podgorje; Swimming Club Fužinar; Carinthian Cultural Association and Pensioners’ Association Prevalje. Together with the Slovenian Mountain Rescue Association, Lek organised workshops Children Learn to Help at the primary School Franjo Golob Prevalje; invited “Helping Paws” to the Prevalje Kindergarten; organised a hike with Petra Majdič as part of Autumn Days, and enabled, with the support of the Red Noses, the Caravan Orchestra show at the Center for Training, Occupation and Care (CUDV) in the Carinthian town of Črna.

Through volunteering and blood donation, Lek Prevalje has been offering a helping hand in the local environment, in the Home for the Elderly in Fara; Altra Center and elsewhere, for over a decade. For the local community, Open Door Days have also been organised for many years.

Lek Prevalje implements the principle of responsible business conduct. It strictly follows the requirements of health, safety and environmental legislation and uniform Novartis standards that are sometimes more stringent than national laws. The visitors learned about a comprehensive and advanced system of environment management at the site, which has already been aligned with the ISO 14001:2015 standard. Lek is the first and only pharmaceutical company in Slovenia to be included in the European Union Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) for responsible management of environmental impacts, while the Anti-infective Unit Prevalje is the only one among the economic entities in Carinthia to be included.