UNIS/ICPDR/010
4 May 2009

Borealis Joins the Business Friends of the Danube Partnership

VIENNA, 4 May 2009 (UN Information Service) - Borealis, a leading provider of innovative, value-creating plastics solutions, has joined the Business Friends of the Danube partnership, an initiative to protect the resources and ecosystems of Europe's second longest river, the Danube.

The Business Friends of the Danube partnership was launched in 2008 by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), the international organization responsible for implementing the Danube River Protection Convention and related EU legislation. The Convention, signed by 13 countries in 1994, ensures that the surface waters and groundwater within the Danube River basin are managed and used in a sustainable and equitable way.

As member of the Business Friends of the Danube, Borealis will partner with The Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola Hellenic, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF and others, in ensuring high standards of operation by businesses in the region, and in developing and supporting joint activities that promote efficient and sustainable sanitation and water conservation solutions. For Borealis, these will include participation in the annual Danube Day on 29 June as well as activities to enhance knowledge transfer to promote better use of water resources, improved waste water treatment and precision farming practices in the Danube river basin.

The Business Friends of the Danube partnership will be the regional component of Borealis' global programme for water and sanitation, Water for the World, that the company initiated in 2007 with its joint-venture Borouge. "The Business Friends of the Danube is the natural regional partnership for our Water for the World programme," comments Mark Garrett, Borealis Chief Executive. "With our operations in Burghausen, Linz and Schwechat and our market leadership in Central and Eastern European countries, Borealis has a strong presence in the Danube River basin. Being a Business Friend of the Danube complements our strategy and is an important step forward in enhancing the contribution our company can make in this region."

Philip Weller, Executive Secretary of the ICPDR, adds: "We are delighted to welcome Borealis to the Business Friends of the Danube. The company has extensive expertise in developing innovations that support ecologically sustainable water management solutions. We are looking forward to working with them to encourage awareness and the transfer of knowledge and best practice to projects that will preserve the uniqueness and long-term resources of the Danube River basin."

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Running a total of 2,870km from the Black Forest to the Black Sea, the Danube River is a crucial transportation route and source of drinking water, hydraulic power, employment and recreation for the 81 million people living in the 19 countries that make up the Danube River basin.

The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) is an international organization consisting of 14 cooperating States of the Danube River basin and the European Union. Since its establishment in 1998, it has grown into one of the largest and most active international bodies engaged in river basin management in Europe. Its activities relate not only to the Danube River, but also the tributaries and ground water resources of the entire Danube River Basin. The ultimate goal of the ICPDR is to implement the Danube River Protection Convention by promoting and coordinating sustainable and equitable water management including conservation and improvement of rational use of waters for the benefit of the Danube River Basin countries and their people. For more information, visit www.icpdr.org.

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For further information, please contact:

Jasmine Bachmann
ICPDR Secretariat
Mobile: (+43-676) 845 200 220
Email: jasmine.bachmann@unvienna.org
Website: www.icpdr.org