OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2013. ArcelorMittal Zenica has reached an important milestone in its ongoing environmental programme, with the official start of operations on a major new filter system for the blast furnace.

A ceremon, was attended by senior officials from  the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Prime Minister Mr Nermin Niksic; Minister of Environment Ms Branka Duric; Cantonal Prime Minister Mr Munib Husejnagica and Minister Mr Edin Terzic; Zenica Mayor Mr Husein Smajlovic, as well as many other representatives of the local authorities, inspectorates and local communities. The ceremony was also attended by ArcelorMittal senior management: Mr Augustine Kochuparampil, CEO of ArcelorMittal Long Carbon Europe and Mr Bertrand Jacquier, CEO of business unit east. 

The event is the culmination of significant work to overcome the major technical challenges faced by the ArcelorMittal Zenica management team. 

Mr M. V. Kulkarni, chief executive officer at ArcelorMittal Zenica, said:

“We are very proud today to officially put into operation this major environmental project, which is an important milestone in our environmental improvement efforts for the town of Zenica. And we are proud to say today: we delivered what we promised.
This was a very complex and demanding project in terms of timeframe, technical challenges and investment. The installation of a state-of-the-art filter, carried out while the factory remains in full operation, was very difficult task. But we did it successfully.

And, we will not stop here, as we are already working on a number of other projects that will continue to improve our environmental footprint. We will keep our commitments on those projects too. In due course, we will be happy to inform you more about those activities.”

Mr Augustine Kochuparampil, CEO of ArcelorMittal Long Carbon Europe said:

“The system that you see in operation today is very ambitious in its vision and the technical team has done an excellent job to bring it into full operation. ArcelorMittal takes our environmental protection responsibilities seriously, and this project is proof of this. The positive benefits from the project will be felt by citizens of this area.”