Leading domestic and international authorities and administrations have taken extraordinary measures in an attempt to check the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which the WHO classified as a pandemic on March 11, and which is having such a significant impact on the world economy.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Elecnor Group has monitored and designed action protocols adapted to the recommendations issued by the Spanish Ministry of Health and competent authorities in each market where we operate, always putting the protection of our workers' health and safety foremost in our list of priorities.
Alongside these health measures, the Elecnor Group has made a number of decisions to deal with what is both an exceptional and extremely complex situation, one which is putting the entire global economy on alert. We are working to reorganise the Group's production activity while complying with Health and Safety regulations, and we continue to maintain critical infrastructure in the energy, telecommunications, water, gas and transport sectors, providing an essential service for all utilities.
In this adverse environment, which we hope will pass as quickly as possible, the Group has decided to activate a series of measures to preserve our future. By implementing this plan, we will be able to get all the workforce back to work as soon as economic activity is restored. As things stand, there is no way we can predict how the situation will unfold, nor can we have a time line of when things will get back to the way they were before the pandemic, or accurately estimate how the crisis will have impacted our businesses.
Our priority is to ensure the safety of our employees, customers and suppliers, as well as to consolidate the Group's position and strengthen it is as strong as possible. Accordingly, Elecnor has carried out several initiatives aligned with the recommendations issued by authorities. Many employees are working from home.
One of the measures included in the Action Plan is a temporary employment adjustment programme, which is being applied progressively, depending on the extent to which the virus has spread to the territories where our Group operates. We take these decisions, making use of employment adjustment mechanisms which have been legally deemed most apt to overcome this crisis, to ensure the best outcome for the company and all its employees.
The Group is also reviewing all its operating expenses globally to reduce those costs that are discretionary. It is also postponing what are considered to be less pressing investments, in order to safeguard liquidity during this uncertain period.
The Government has decreed a series of essential economic activities to cope with people's special needs caused by the exceptional circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in various areas, such as health, care services and technology. Elecnor is carrying out a large number of tasks in some of these areas—tasks which are crucial to maintain economic activity, working to assist the healthcare sector, and promoting teleworking or study formulas.
Here are some examples of our contribution:
Elecnor hopes that all those of you that have been affected by this virus make a speedy recovery. And we would like to take to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to the healthcare professionals and all those of you who are putting so much time and energy into protecting us all.
Last but not least, the Group would like to thank all its employees for their commitment, effort, personal sacrifice and sense of responsibility, particularly those employees working in what are considered to be essential lines of work in these difficult times. We are confident that we will be able to continue with these tasks, befitting of our status as one of the leading companies in our industry.
Elecnor is one of the leading corporations in project development, construction and operation through two major mutually-enriching business areas: Infrastructure and Concessions.
Infrastructure, renewable energy and new technologies are the main areas of activity in which the Infrastructure and Concessions businesses are involved.
Thanks to the commitment, effort and innovation of its more than 15,000 employees, Elecnor has become an industry benchmark.
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