THE HELLENIC PETROLEUM GROUP SPONSORED THE FULL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE RAFINA SPECIAL SCHOOL COMPLEX

The Chairman of the BoD of HELPE Mr. Giannis Papathanasiou, the Deputy Minister of Education & Religious Affairs Mrs. Sofia Zacharaki and the Mayor of Radina-Pikermi Mr. Evangelos Bournous, at the inauguration of the Rafina Special School Complex

Extensive works for the full reconstruction of the buildings at the Rafina Special School Complex that were destroyed by the deadly fire in July 2018, as well as the total refurbishment and renovation of all facilities and the surrounding area, where more than 80 children with special skills are hosted, have been completed with the generous sponsorship by the HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group.

A plague for HELLENIC PETROLEUM sponsorship regarding the reconstruction of the Special Primary and Kindergarten school

The fire caused major damage to elementary school buildings and the surrounding area, while the rest of the building complex had major deficiencies in terms of infrastructure, functionality, security and accessibility for the children hosted there.

The building complex consists of:

- 4 buildings with a total area of 500m² that house primary schools and host 32 Primary and Kindergarten children with special abilities, as well as

- 2 buildings with a total area of 620m² that house the Special Vocational Education and Training Laboratory of Rafina, hosting 45 Secondary Education children, aged 15-23 years, with special abilities.

The new premises were fully reconstructed by the Group's subsidiary, ASPROFOS Engineering, according to the high quality and safety standards set by the European Union and applied by ELOT. The implementation time of the Reconstruction Project - of a total cost of €830,000 - was record-breaking, as schools were in operation until mid-June 2019 and all works on 5 of the 6 buildings and the surrounding area took place during the 3 summer months leading up to the start of the new school year.

The project delivery ceremony took place at noon, right after the blessing for the start of the new school year, with “blooming” smiles on the faces of the students and clear expressions of satisfaction by the parents and teaching staff.

During his brief speech, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of HELPE Mr. Giannis Papathanasiou stated: “HELLENIC PETROLEUM and I personally feel great joy, because today we are delivering a fully refurbished school complex, a model project serving dozens of students from the entire Attica, who are students of special abilities and have equal rights to life, knowledge and quality education. The Group considered it a priority to reconstruct not only the kindergarten, but also the rest of the buildings, the primary schools and the administration offices, as they too had to undergo refurbishment in order to become fully operational. It is extremely important that the project was completed in a record-breaking period of just three months, so that the schools would be ready on the first day of the school year. We will always stand by such efforts, wherever there is a real need”.

For his part, the Mayor of Rafina-Pikermi Mr. Evangelos Bournous thanked the HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group for its “very generous sponsorship” which, as he said, “is an example worth following”, and noted that the Special School Complex of Rafina is now a model project for the entire Attica.

The event was attended by the Deputy Minister of Education and Religious Affairs Ms. Sofia Zacharaki, the Secretary General of Civil Protection Mr. Nikos Chardalias, the Regional Vice-Governor of Finance of the Attica Prefecture Mr. Nikos Peppas, the Regional Vice-Governor of Eastern Attica Mr. Athanasios Avgerinos, the Director of Secondary Education of Eastern Attica Mr. Stefanos Kapellas, the Deputy Director of Primary Education Mr. Dimitrios Nikoletsopoulos, Regional and Municipal Councillors, as well as representatives of Institutions and Organizations. The Chairman of the BoD Mr. Vassilis Kounelis and the CEO Mr. Petros Papasotiriou of ASPROFOS Engineering, as well as the Dean Mr. Spyridon Kintzios and the Vice Dean of Finance, Planning and Development Mr. Iordanis Hadjipavlidis of the Agricultural University of Athens, which kindly sponsored the Surrounding Area Study, were also present.

Prior to the restoration work of the school complex, all burnt trees were removed and then the necessary studies were carried out with funding from the HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group. The studies involved:

Surveying of buildings and surrounding area
Mapping of existing condition of buildings
New architectural proposal for the school complex
New study of active fire protection and fire detection in all buildings
New electromechanical studies for 2 buildings
Study of surrounding area by the Agricultural University of Athens

Then, last June, works started intensively on the following tasks:

Replacement of all frames (doors and windows) of the building complex with new energy-efficient ones
Installation of wall and roof insulation
Replacement of all interior floors with new ones with modern specifications
Renovation of existing WCs and construction of new ones, as well as construction of WCs for persons with disabilities in all buildings
Coating and painting of exterior and interior surfaces
Construction and electromechanical works for new layouts in most buildings, such as:

Installation of a modern fire protection and fire detection system
Installation of new water supply systems throughout the facility
Replacement of electrical panels in all buildings
Replacement and installation of additional telephone and internet cables
Repair of the heating system of the complex
Replacement of all existing lamps with new LEDs and addition of new ones
Replacement of all switches and sockets
Repair and replacement of air conditioners, wherever required.

Works on designing surrounding area, rainwater drainage, tree planting, colourings etc., in collaboration with the Agricultural University
Designing a children’s gardening area with a modern greenhouse, outdoor planting cabinets, and a recreation and outdoor teaching pergola, again in collaboration with the Agricultural University
Repair of rainwater drainage throughout the surrounding area and flooring with certified material
Maintenance and painting of fences, railing and grids with anti-rust paint
Construction of basketball court at the Primary School and mini basketball court at the Special Vocational Education and Training Laboratory
Construction of a certified playground at the Primary School, with a Play Centre poly-instrument mounted on certified security floorboards of suitable thickness.
Creation of a living room in the Primary School, with a solid floor under the existing plane tree, next to aromatic plants
Creation of an area for agronomy courses at the Special Vocational Education and Training Laboratory.
Installation of a high-quality greenhouse, with ramps and corridors made of fixed floor, with raised flowerbeds for students with wheelchair, where children can cultivate.

Children's gardeninig area with the greenhouse and the area for agronomy courses at the Special Vocational Education and Training Laboratory.

The certified playground at the Primary School, with a Play Centre poly -instrument

The CSR contribution of the HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group was not limited to the full reconstruction and renovation of the Rafina Special School Complex. From the first moment when the fatal disaster occurred, the Group aided the community to help alleviate those affected by the fires. It was decided, immediately, to cover the cost of aerial photography of the burned areas, while also meeting the fuel needs to cut the burnt trees, estimated at more than 200,000 litres of fuels, through the EKO and BP fuel stations network.

In addition, a very important initiative is the funding, for the coming years, of the activities of the Athens National Observatory on natural disaster response, which involves:

Strengthening the meteorological network of terrestrial measurements in Attica, which will enhance the ability to predict heavy rainfall and floods in the area
Upgrading the infrastructure and information systems of the BEYOND Centre of Excellence, which records in real time and predicts the spread of fires in the Attica region
Supporting the creation of the national climate change network

From left, Mrs. Panagiota Kanneli chemical engineer and Process manager of ASPROFOS, Mrs. Rania Soulaki CSR Director of HELPE Group, Mr. Vassilis Kounelis Chairman of the BoD of Asprofos, Mr. Petros Papasotiriou, CEO of ASPROFOS Engineering, Mr. Giannis Papathanasiou Chairman of the BoD of HELPE, Mr. John Koronaios Corporate Affairs Manager of HELPE Group, and Mrs. Paraskevi Kapella Project Manager and civil engineer of ASPROFOS.

The HELPE Group is consistently implementing a broad and comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility program, focusing on the people and the Greek society.