Budapest, November 23, 2010 16:00

The essay competition on sustainability sponsored by Magyar Telekom was closed by the announcement of winners and granting them rewards. Participants in the competition for students aged 15-25 with the title "What awaits us in 2020" wrote about how they conceive and would like to see Hungary in light of the climate change in ten years' time, in 2020.

Hungary's market leader telecommunications company announced its sustainability campaign called "Hello tomorrow" in September at the 3rd Sustainability Day. As the first element of the campaign Magyar Telekom and the non-profit company Vegyél Vissza! launched the essay competition on the topic of sustainability with the title "What awaits us in 2020"with the sponsorship of the parliamentary commissioner for future generations Dr. Sándor Fülöp.

The slogan of the competition was: We have one planet-we are responsible for each other. Participants were asked to look for answers in their essays to: what we can do in order to avoid perilous changes to our climate, what changes may happen and what hazards could and should be avoided in Hungary due to climate change in the next decade until 2020. In the framework of the essay competition young people committed to the cause of climate protection had the opportunity to submit various literary pieces such as scripts, short stories, suggestions and utopias.

Winners of the essay competition were:
1st place: Máté Lajos Farkas, prize: smartphone and e-book
2nd place: Miklós Szilágyi, prize: e-book
3rd place (shared): Gergely Egri and Péter Cseh, prize: e-book
In addition to the above prizes, the jury of experts granted the most successful participants of the competition 20 coupons worth HUF 2000 each for purchasing books and, as a special prize, 3 coupons worth HUF 10000 each for purchasing books.

Magyar Telekom has paid key attention to the management of sustainability problems. The company has coordinated its environment protection activities since 2002 and has had a sustainability strategy since 2005, the aim of which is to provide visibility of the company's performance to employees and customers and to retain the company's leading position. It is also demonstrated by the fact that Magyar Telekom was the first in Hungary to publish a sustainability report and, in order to continue to be able to do so, it endeavors to integrate the sustainability related approach in the company's processes at all corporate governance levels.

The company's sustainability activities have earned several recognitions earlier. Among others Magyar Telekom was ranked first in the "CSR 24/7" survey of 2009, it was granted the Best Workplace in Hungary and the Best Workplace in Central and East Europe titles and has been included in the Central and East European Sustainability Index (CEERIUS) of the Vienna Stock Exchange.