Severstal's Health and Safety System Receives International Certificate

Severstal has received a certificate stating that its occupational health and safety system conforms to the international OHSAS 18001:1999 standard. According to the company's press office, the certificate was presented to Severstal Chairman Alexei Mordashov by Philippe Lanternier, the vice-president of Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI), which carried out an independent inspection in December 2002.

In addition to Severstal, the only Russian companies to have received OHSAS 18001:1999 certificates are a number of structures within the LUKoil group. The certificate is valid for three years on condition that an international certificating organisation carries out a spot check every 6 months. After three years a company has to go through the certification process again.

At the beginning of December 2002 Lloyd's Register of Shipping conducted a re-certification audit of Severstal's quality control system. The company's audit recommended that Severstal be granted the new ISO 9001:2000 certificate, which will be awarded in March 2003.

Severstal (Cherepovets, Vologda Region) is Russia's leading steel and metal producer and the head company of the Severstal Group holding. The group's share capital is worth 5,518,548 roubles (USD 175,000) and is divided into 22,074,192 shares. In January 2003 Severstal increased steel production by 9.9% over the previous year to 894,400 tonnes.

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