Sustainability Report 2013 Lek d.d.

21 Company Profile Development jubilee of the site 35 successful years at the Prevalje site The Prevalje site of Lek, a Sandoz company, awaited the 35 th anniversary of its operation as one of the best Novartis plants for the production of generics in the world. A small plant for the production of penicillin product has developed into an im- portant part of Novartis’s generic division Sandoz, the second largest global generic pharmaceutical company. With more than 200 employees, the Prevalje site is an important emplo- yer in the region. Products from the Prevalje site are exported to more than 60 countries, including the USA, with the largest global pharmaceutical market. "When in 1978 just over 40 associates started production of penicillin products at Prevalje as a part of Lek Pharma- ceuticals, this was the first and the only production plant from the former Eastern Europe with a separate penicillin production. From the initial manual preparation of granu- late, manual filling and manual packaging of capsules and oral suspensions, we have evolved into a modern pharma- ceutical production plant. Today, at Prevalje we produce one of the best-selling Sandoz’ products and allocate two to three million Euros for investments annually," said Bojan Dolenc, then the site Head at Prevalje. In addition to a ceremony marking 35 years of operation, the employees of the Prevalje site organized an Open House Day that attracted a large number of local residents. We showed them around the site and presented our work, achievements and plans for the future. On this occasion, we also finan- cially supported the Prevalje Volleyball Club and Carinthia Fire Service. Our company namely also integrates itself in the Carinthian community through cooperation with organizations and individuals operating in the fields of humanitarian aid, health care, education, learning and culture. The Novartis/Sandoz model of stakeholder relationship ma- nagement enables us to play an active role in the life of the society and to upgrade the knowledge of our activity and stakeholders’ expectations. We participate in social discussions where we present our views, being open to the opinions of others, and we are im- proving the company’s performance through strategic ad- justments to our corporate practice. 1.5.3.1 Stakeholder participation 23 In accordance with Novartis policy, we include stakehol- ders in different ways. For better understanding of patient’s needs, we use focus groups and cooperate with groups of patients, organized in associations and initiatives. We parti- cipate together with academia and the scientific community at scientific conferences, and cooperate with professional organizations, educational institutions, research institutions and researchers in the field of chemistry, biology and health- care. We learn about the satisfaction and views of our employ- ees through a survey that is carried out every second year. At meetings with our suppliers, we endeavor to learn about their expectations and experiences. We include stakeholders (patients, doctors, pharmacists, wholesalers and retailers) in the use of new technologies and information channels. We provide balanced, accurate and easy-to-understand scientific information on diseases, treatments and treatment policies that concern patients. We pursue an interest in providing information to the pub- lic through building open and proactive relations with the media. An open dialogue with our key stakeholders forms part of our endeavours to be a respectable and successful healthcare company in Slovenia and abroad. It is maintained through prompt response to the questions received, and by means of a responsive policy and practice of complaint handling. We pay considerable attention to local communities, listen to the initiatives provided by the local population, and, pur- suant to Slovenian laws, implement them in practice, where possible. In 2013, we received four complaints from local residents 24 . The Ljubljana site received two; one was noise-related and the other referred to grease deposits in one of our connec- tions to the public sewer. In the first case, the complaint was filed by a local resident who also filed complaints in 2011 and 2012. In previous years we installed silencers, whereby the noise level was considerably reduced significantly below limit values; therefore, no additional activities were carried in 2013 with regard to this issue. Compliance with laws was confirmed by regular measurements of noise emissions. In the second case, we cleaned the sewer system and tight- ened control over emissions of fats into the sewer system by the company that carries out catering services for us. The complaints in Menge‰ related to unpleasant odours and noise. In the case of unpleasant odours, the investigation discovered that the source was the cultivation of agricult- ural land and not Lek, a Sandoz company. The noise-related complaint was justified, as a failure of the compressed air valve occurred at one of the production facilities. By replacing the valve and installing a noise silencer on the exhaust pipe, the problem was remedied. The inclusion of the local community is also carried out through Open House Days. In 2013 they were held in Prevalje as a part of the site’s 35 th anniversary. The information about the impacts of our business is publish- ed in Sustainability Reports for Lek d.d., available at http:// www.lek.si/en/social-responsibility/ . 23 GRI Disclosures G4-26, G4-27 24 GRI Indicators G4-EN34, G4-SO1 Local population took great interest in viewing the production at Prevalje.