Pelion has been awarded the '2015 Oar of Business' by readers of the 'Gazeta Wyborcza' daily, who recognised the company's vital contribution to development of the city and region of Łódź.

The purpose of the contest, organised for the first time by Gazeta Wyborcza, was to recognise companies which, according to the readers and judging panel, had contributed the most to development of Łódź and its province.

In a readers' vote held between September 14th and September 21st 2015, Pelion emerged as the winner.

The '2015 Oar of Business' statuettes were presented on September 29th 2015 during the 8th European Economic Forum in Łódź. Mr Jacek Szwajcowski, President of the Pelion Management Board, was there to collect the award on behalf of the Company and take part in a debate on the 25 years of economic freedom. The panellists discussed Poland's transformation from a planned economy to a free market, and the changes that have taken place in Łódź over the past 25 years. The debate was moderated by editors of the 'Gazeta Wyborcza - Łódź' daily.

'We would like to thank all those who have voted for Pelion. Your votes are a proof that what we do is important and that the region and its inhabitants need us,' said Jacek Szwajcowski, collecting the '2015 Oar of Business' statuette from Katarzyna Owczarek-Pukaczewska, publisher of the 'Gazeta Wyborcza' daily for the Central Region, and Joanna Żarnoch-Chudzińska, Editor-in-Chief of the Łódź edition of 'Gazeta Wyborcza'. Although over the past 25 years our business has significantly expanded beyond Łódź and the borders of Poland, we have not decided to move our corporate headquarters outside the city in which it originated. It is from Łódź that we supply thousands of pharmacies and hundreds of hospitals all over Poland, and it is here that we organise marathons and have created the Pharmacy Museum to cultivate the traditions of Poland's apothecaries,' said the President of the Pelion Management Board.
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The history of the Pelion Healthcare Group began in December 1990, when the pharmaceutical wholesaler Medicines appeared on the Łódź market. Over the course of 25 years, the small pharmaceutical wholesaler has grown into one of the largest groups on the healthcare markets in Poland and Lithuania, present across all segments of pharmaceutical distribution and employing over 8,500 staff. Through its subsidiaries, the company carries out business activities consisting in the wholesale to pharmacies, sales to hospitals, retail sales, and services for manufacturers, always focusing on the patients and their needs related to healthcare and disease prevention.

Pelion also has a portfolio of specialist companies which support it through business process outsourcing, receivables risk management or administration of private drug reimbursement schemes.

Pelion's strategy is to strengthen its position on the European healthcare market and to create sustainable value on the capital market. Pelion's mission statement - 'I Care for My Health − our passion, your investment' - is manifest in the Company's efforts to give patients full support in the course of their pharmacotherapy, provide the knowledge and state-of-the-art solutions in disease prevention and healthcare, and offer a wide selection of drugs.

The goals of protecting human health and improving the quality of life underpin the Company's policy of sustainable and responsible development. Testament to the Company's involvement in CSR initiatives is the 'Dbam o Zdrowie' Foundation. Established in 2007, it aims to provide assistance to individuals in personal or financial difficulties by helping them purchase medicines. A part of the Company's social involvement is the annual marathon run in Łódź since 2011 to promote a healthy and active life style.

The Company also cultivates the traditions of Polish pharmacy - it holds patronage of Apteka Rektorska in Zamość, Poland's oldest pharmacy, publishes monographs on Poland's historic pharmacies, and has created and now supports the Prof. Jan Muszyński Pharmacy Museum in Łódź. As the first company from Łódź and from the healthcare sector, since 2013 Pelion S.A. has been part of the RESPECT Index, the first stock index in Central and Eastern Europe to highlight companies managed in a sustainable and responsible manner.

Pelion S.A. Press Office

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