November 8, 2002

Help for flood victims in Eastern Germany

Opel Assists in Kindergarten Reconstruction

Board and works council present employee donations totalling more than 500,000 Euro

Rüsselsheim/Leipzig. Proceeds from the Opel employee initiative "One Hour's Wages for the Flood Victims" will be devoted to the rebuilding of kindergartens destroyed in the German state of Saxony. Management board members Klaudia Martini and Norbert Küpper, along with Opel General Works Council Chairman Klaus Franz and Saxony's Minister for Social Welfare, Christine Weber, today presented 525,000 Euro to day care centers in the townships in Grosstreben, Sermuth und Zeithain.

"We are convinced that this money donated by Opel employees is being put to good use here. Child care centers were flooded out completely and must be, in some cases, completely rebuilt," Klaus Franz said during the check presentation ceremony in the township of Kössern. Social Minister Weber expressed her gratitude for the workers' solidarity and willingness to help. "The children were among those who suffered the most as a result of the flood catastrophe and since then they have been cared for on a provisional basis only. This donation from Opel's employees takes us an important step closer to bringing the lives of the people in this region back to normal," Weber said.

Presentation of this check completes the comprehensive Opel assistance effort which had already begun at the start of the flood catastrophe. Opel was the first automobile producer to provide more than 1,200 flood victims with replacement vehicles. The company also offered a zero-rate new vehicle program to those whose cars were destroyed by the flood waters. Overall monetary value of the company's assistance exceeded two million Euro.

Contact:	Ulrich Weber	Tel. +6142 774220
	Dr. Gudrun Langer	Tel. +6142 777340