SPONSORSHIPS AND SUPPORT

Support to local cultural and sports

One of Veidekke's key value drivers is interaction with customers. We know from experience that the overall quality of a project is improved by constructive cooperation, making value creation through partnership a central element therefore of Veidekke's business philosophy. This means that we seek to create win-win situations in all stages of a building project through dialogue, interaction and mutual trust. To all of which, good relationships are the key. By supporting culture and sports, Veidekke makes a valuable contribution to local community leisure activities, and at the same time creates common arenas for relationship building with existing and potential customers.

Veidekke's many engagements in local communities, country-wide, can be divided into three main categories.

• Development Agreements. These are projects in which sponsoring and business go hand in hand. A good example is our agreement with Norway's Asthma and Allergy Association, which contributes to a good exchange of competence in creating good living and working environments. A specific project has already begun on Årvoll in Oslo.
• Talent Agreements. These are projects in which traditional sponsoring goes hand in hand with internal skills development. One example is our new agreement with the Swedish star athlete Carolina Klüft. In addition to wearing Veidekke's logo, she will contribute actively in management development, motivation programmes and recruitment. We hope that she will help us develop our company into an even more attractive workplace for young people, especially young women who are still under-represented in this male-dominated industry.
• Culture and Sports. Veidekke has a great number of sponsoring engagements within culture and sports. A few of these are: the Veidekke Games 2009 at Lillehammer (athletics), the Lysgårdsbakken ski jump at Lillehammer, Norges Fleridrettsforbund (multisport organisation), Norwegian People's Aid and the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo. In Sweden, we are involved in the Marabou Park in Sundbyberg, the Swedish National Association for a Drug-free Society (RNS), Schoolchildren's Traffic Calendar, and a number of local sports clubs.

Instead of Christmas gifts for business associates and employees in Norway, Veidekke in 2009 donated NOK 150 000 to both the Norwegian People's Aid and Save the Children. We also donated NOK 150 000 to TV Action Care, and 100 000 kroner to the Red Cross' work for earthquake victims in Haiti. Of the largest ongoing sponsorship agreements Veidekke had in 2009, are track and field athlete Carolina Klüft (NOK 500 000), Menuhin International Music Festival (NOK 500 000), Barratt Due Institute of Music (NOK 350 000) and Skiforeningen (NOK 350 000).