Hamburg/Pirdop, 29 January 2010 – The prize of the German/Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DBIHK) in the category „Large-scale enterprise” for 2009 has been awarded to Aurubis Bulgaria, the second-largest production site in the Aurubis Group.

Yesterday, 28 January, the German Economy prize was awarded as part of the traditional New Year reception of DBIHK in Sofia. The prize winner was chosen again in three categories for the sixth time. The trophies are given to firms and institutes for projects or activities that develop business contacts between Germany and Bulgaria.

Aurubis Bulgaria won the prize in the category „Large-scale enterprise“. The reason for the decision was that the Aurubis Group, to which Aurubis Bulgaria has belonged since 2008, has invested more than € 350 million in the Pirdop site. A particularly large investment was the construction of a new copper tankhouse with a capacity of 180,000 tonnes of cathodes per annum. The cathodes can since then be traded as „Grade A“ quality on the London Metal Exchange under the brand name „Pirdop“. In addition, a project for the optimisation and modernisation of the slag flotation was started in 2009.

Aurubis Executive Board member Peter Willbrandt, who is responsible for the Primary Copper Production Business Unit, and the Executive Director of Aurubis Bulgaria, Nicolas Treand, accepted the prize from the Bulgarian premier, Boiko Borisov. Peter Willbrandt was delighted about the honour. „We are proud that the Pirdop factory represents another ultra modern production site in the Aurubis Group and are pleased that our investment in capacity expansions and environmental protection has gained recognition.“

The trophy with the name „Glory“ was designed by the Bulgarian artist Alexander Pronov.

Prize winners in recent years were inter alia the newspaper group Bulgarian OOD, Liebherr – Haushaltsgeräte Marica EOOD and Siemens EOOD.

Company Profile

The Aurubis Group is the largest copper producer in Europe and the world leader in copper recycling. We produce some 1 million tonnes of copper cathodes and more than 1.2 million tonnes of copper products each year. We have sites in seven European countries with a total of about 4,700 employees.
Thanks to our wide range of services, we rank among the global leaders in our industry. Our core business is the production of marketable copper cathodes from copper concentrates, copper scrap and recycling raw materials. These are processed within the Group into continuous cast wire rod, shapes, rolled products as well as special wire and profiles made of copper and copper alloys.  Precious metals and a number of other products, such as sulphuric acid and iron silicate, round off our product portfolio.
Customers of the Aurubis Group include companies in the copper semis industry, the electrical engineering, electronics and chemical industries as well as suppliers of the construction and car industries.
Aurubis is oriented to growth and to increasing corporate value. The main focus of our strategy is on strengthening our business, utilising growth opportunities and practising a responsible attitude when dealing with people and handling resources and the environment.
Aurubis shares are part of the Prime Standard Segment of the Deutsche Börse and are listed in the MDAX, in the European Stoxx 600 and the Global Challenges Index (GCX).

Further information at www.aurubis.com

Contacts:

Group Communications
Michaela Hessling
Head
Tel.: +49 40 7883-3053
m.hessling(at)aurubis.com

Matthias Trott
+49 40 7883-3037
m.trott(at)aurubis.com