PRESS RELEASE (for immediate publication ) Prague, 8 September 2000 ŽELEZÁRNY VESELÍ OFFERS REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO CLARIFICATION OF UNION LEADER'S

On 7 September 2000 ing. Virgil Sahleanu, union leader at the TEPRO pipe rolling mill, was murdered in the Romanian town of Iasi. The company is part of the subholding company Z-Group. The news of the murder in connection with a rumour that the union leader's death was ordered by TEPRO's owner - Železárny Veselí, led to demonstrations by the workers in front of the Iasi prefecture. The management of Železárny Veselí was deeply shocked by the news that Virgil Sahleanu had been murdered. The allegations made by the demonstrators greatly angered them. Chairman of the Board of Directors JUDr. Ing. Zdeněk Zemek made the following statement, "I held talks with trade union president Ing. Sahleanu very often in the last few months and despite our often differing opinions I regarded Mr. Sahleanu and the whole trade union as a serious partner for the resolution of the complicated problems related to ensuring the rolling mill's future. "I, personally, and the whole company want the murderers found and the motive for the murder clarified, just as the TEPRO union members do. Železárny Veselí will therefore give a reward of twenty thousand American dollars to the person who effectively contributes to the murderers' arrest and the clarification of the crime's motive. "We completely reject any connection between the murder of Ing. Sahleanu and the differing opinions of and disputes between the company's management and the rolling mill's union in connection with the privatisation and on-going restructuring of TEPRO. The speculation, which has appeared in the press in this connection, is absolutely false. We regard statements such as "Czechs ordered the murder ." as scandalous and damaging to relations between our nations. Will we therefore fully co-operate with the official investigation during which we believe that the falsehood of the above statements will be proved, the murderers found and the motive clarified." On the basis of information provided by JUDr. Ing. Zdeněk Zemek Chairman of the Board of Directors, Železárny Veselí a.s. Prepared by: V.I.A. PRAHA, a.s. Bělohorská 9 169 00 Prague 6 Attachment : Letter from the management of Železárny Veselí a.s to the trade union TEPRO, IASI END _______________________________________________ Further information : Mgr. Pavel Šefl, tel.: 02 - 20515334 - 5, fax: 02 - 20154762e-mail : via-praha@telecom.cz Veselí nad Moravou, 8 September 2000 SYNDICAT LIBERO TEPRO, IASI We were informed of the murder of the president of your organisation, Ing. Virgil Sahleanu, yesterday afternoon. Se were particularly shocked and angered by the murder as we had often met him in the last few months and started to regard both him and the Syndicat as a serious partner for the resolution of the complicated conditions for the future of TEPRO. We would therefore like to ask you to convey our sympathy and condolences to Mr. Sahleanu's widow and family and the employees of TEPRO. Please also assure Mrs. Sahleanu and the deceased's family that TEPRO and its shareholder Železárny Veselí will provide the social assistance they need to overcome their difficult situation. However, at this time of sadness we must categorically reject any connection between problems related to privatisation and Železárny Veselí's alleged interest in Mr. Sahleanu's demise. This claim, which has appeared in the press and during public appearances is completely false and its dissemination in the form "Czechs ordered the murder."damages relations between our nations. The falseness of such statements will certainly be proved by official investigations, during which we will co- operate in full. As we have emphasised several times in the past the town Veselí nad Moravou and its surrounding area was liberated by the Romanian army in 1945 and we therefore have great respect for the Romanian nation. With our sympathy and deepest respect for Mr. Sahleanu's memory. JUDr. Ing. Zdeněk Zemek Chairman of the Board of Directors, Železárny Veselí, a.s. JUDr. Ing. Zdeněk Zemek Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT