SOCAR Gas Stations Redecorate for Euro 2020
The qualifying tournament for the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, or UEFA Euro 2020, began on March 21. The tournament will run until March of next year, determining the teams that will play in the 16th quadrennial international men’s football championship for Europe in the summer of 2020.
UEFA Euro 2020 will mark the first time that the games in the tournament will be spread across 12 different cities in 12 different countries on the continent. The host cities will be: London, Munich, Rome, Baku, Saint Petersburg, Bilbao, Bucharest, Dublin, Amsterdam, Budapest, Glasgow, and Copenhagen. A UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) tournament game has never before been held in the Caucasus.
Former UEFA President Michel Platini explained that the 12 cities idea is a “romantic,” one-time structure, meant to celebrate 60 years since the tournament’s inception.
To celebrate Baku’s role as a host city, SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, is redecorating 11 of its gas service stations in Georgia to be themed as the host cities. The redecorated stations will be maintained until the end of this year. The only city not represented will be Saint Petersburg – in recognition of Russia’s occupation of Georgian territory in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region, according to Caucasus Business Week.
Well-known local designers developed the concepts for the decoration of the service stations. Versions of workers’ uniforms will have also been designed to match the stations’ themes, and some stations include related souvenir shops.
UEFA Euro 2020 will feature the top 24 European men’s football teams. The currently ongoing qualifying rounds include the national teams of both Azerbaijan and Georgia. On Saturday, Georgia lost to Switzerland 2-0 in their first game of the group stage. On Thursday, Croatia beat Azerbaijan 2-1. 55 national teams are playing in the qualifying tournament. Georgia’s next match will be Tuesday against Ireland. Azerbaijan plays Hungary on June 8.
The Rome-themed SOCAR station was officially opened on March 21, mirroring the opening of the qualifying tournament. Rome will host the opening match of the 2020 competition. The Rome-themed station is located in Tbilisi’s Ortachala neighborhood, near SOCAR’s head office in Georgia. The opening ceremony was attended by Italian embassy officials, representatives from football governing bodies, and high-level management from SOCAR.
SOCAR explained its decision to decorate the stations in Georgia as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. The SOCAR website explains that the company sees CSR as part of the role of a modern company following international standards. There are five directions in the company’s permanent CSR strategy: environmental protection, youth support, safety, empowering women, and enforcing the rights of people with disabilities (PWD).
Under the umbrella of “youth support,” SOCAR contributes to the development of youth sports in Georgia, primarily soccer and rugby. The service station decoration initiative follows that vein of their activities. In 2013, SOCAR became an official sponsor of UEFA national team competitions.
In addition to supporting youth sports, their website explains, SOCAR has built a number of parks in Georgia, conducts waste recycling, carefully controls fuel quality for minimal environmental impact, equips most of its highway service stations with free electric vehicle charging ports, is plans to plant 6,200 trees throughout Georgia in Tbilisi and on the land damaged by the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park wildfire in 2017.
By Samantha Guthrie
Image source: SOCAR