Swiss-based Nestle, one of the world leaders in the production of food and beverages, has provided Ukraine with CHF15 million ($15.8 million at the current exchange rate) in the form of humanitarian and monetary assistance since the beginning of the military invasion by the aggressor country of the Russian Federation, which included financial assistance and over 40 million servings of food, drinks and nutrients.
The relevant data was made public in the report of the corporation for the first quarter of 2022 on its website on Thursday.
“From the very beginning of the war, Nestle has focused on supporting its employees, their families and the people of Ukraine. Working in partnership with Ukrainian charities, Nestle also organized direct humanitarian deliveries in the war zone,” the report says.
According to its data, the corporation was able to largely maintain operations in western Ukraine, while the work of its plant in Kharkiv was stopped due to heavy shelling of the city by Russian troops. The enterprise was transformed into a distribution center for humanitarian aid for the local population.
The corporation has retained wage payments for its 5,800 Ukrainian employees, and also provides them with advance, lump-sum payments in connection with the relocation.
“Nestle has set up support centers in neighboring countries such as Poland to receive employees and their families who have left Ukraine. For example, part of the company’s factory in Rzeszow (Poland) was converted into housing for refugees,” the corporation said in the report.
As reported, on March 23, the corporation decided to reduce production and sales in the aggressor country of the Russian Federation to essential goods, such as baby or medical food.
The United Nations (UN) may initiate the conclusion of agreements on a humanitarian truce between Ukraine and Russia, the UN press service reports.
“Mr. Guterres said that the UN Humanitarian Affairs chief, Martin Griffiths, would ‘immediately explore’ an agreement with Russia and Ukraine for the ceasefire,” according to a press release published on Monday.
Speaking to reporters on the same day, Guterres said that the war in Ukraine had led to “the war has led to the senseless loss of thousands of lives; the displacement of ten million people, mainly women and children; the systematic destruction of essential infrastructure; and skyrocketing food and energy prices worldwide. This must stop,” the Secretary General said.
Guterres hopes that the truce will ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid, as well as the safety of civilians.
“It [the truce] will save lives, prevent suffering, and protect civilians,” the Secretary General said.
The UN chief made it clear that any solution “to this humanitarian tragedy is not humanitarian. It is political.”
“I am therefore appealing for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, to allow for progress in serious political negotiations, [aimed] at reaching a peace agreement based on the principles of the United Nations Charter,” the Secretary General said.
Slovakia has handed over a humanitarian aid to Ukraine to wind up consequences of a natural disaster in the population areas of Ivano-Frankivsk region.
According to the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, tents, pumps, generators and other rescue equipment will be handed over to help people in the most affected areas of the region.
As reported, as of July 6, five residential locations (349 at the beginning) in Chernivtsi region, 14 cellars (7,225 at the beginning), including eleven in Ivano-Frankivsk and three in Ternopil regions, 47 housing plots, including 38 in Chernivtsi, seven in Ternopil and two in Ivano-Frankivsk regions, are still flooded.
Some 549 kilometers of roads (654 kilometers at the beginning) and 213 bridges (266 at the beginning) in Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Lviv regions are damaged.
Three people died in Ivano-Frankivsk region.
An Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) IL-76 MD plane has delivered humanitarian aid from the People’s Republic of China to Kyiv for combating COVID-19. The shipment is the largest provided so far to Ukraine from China.
“The largest humanitarian aid ever delivered from China by the UAF plane contained more than 125 cubic meters of cargo,” Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Enin said at a briefing at Boryspil Airport on Wednesday.
The humanitarian aid includes protective masks, suits, disinfectants, as well as 10 mechanical ventilation devices donated by the founder of the Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Enin said that the cargo was collected by 39 institutions: heads of provinces, enterprises and some public activists.
“The Chinese people have shown an extremely sincere gesture of solidarity with the Ukrainian people in countering the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine Ihor Ivaschenko said that all the cargo received is humanitarian, and its recipient is state-owned enterprise Ukrvaccine and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. The cargo will be distributed between the healthcare institutions of Ukraine, higher educational institutions, as well as regional administrations.
The list of cargo recipients also includes separate institutions that are defined as targeted delivery of goods, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, higher educational institutions such as Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, National Aviation Institute, and some regional administrations: Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Sumy, Poltava and some city councils. There are also goods that will be sent to the Main Military Hospital and the Oleksandrivska Hospital.
Ivaschenko also said that over the next month the goods will be distributed in accordance with applications.
At the same time, Enin added that regarding the received artificial lung ventilators, a distribution decision will be made in the near future, and they will be sent to places that need this technical support most.
AID, CHINA, HUMANITARIAN, PLANE, UAF
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytor Kuleba has held a video conversation with Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Fan Xianrong, during which he thanked the PRC for the party of humanitarian aid that will arrive in Ukraine on Wednesday, the press service of the Foreign Ministry has said.
“Kuleba expressed gratitude to China for helping Ukraine in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the humanitarian aid party, which will arrive in Ukraine on April 1. It will include PCR tests, remote thermometers, medical glasses and other personal protective equipment for medical personnel,” the message said.
The parties also agreed to continue cooperation in this area. In particular, Xianrong, at the request of Kuleba, confirmed the possibility of facilitating the centralized delivery to Ukraine of the assistance that Chinese cities collected for Ukrainian twin cities.
In addition, with the aim of developing a strategic partnership between Ukraine and China tomorrow, April 1, Kuleba and Wang Yi will hold the first telephone conversation between the foreign ministers of the two countries.
Among other things, the parties discussed trade and investment between the countries, in particular, promising projects that could soon be implemented in Ukraine with the participation of the Chinese side.
“Supporting Ukrainian exporters is my priority. According to the results of 2019, China has become the main trading partner for Ukraine. The trade turnover between our countries reached a record $12.8 billion. This year we must not only maintain, but also develop this success by balancing the structure of trade,” Kuleba said.
