124 million hryvnias on charitable initiatives from Credit Agricole Bank. Because We Care!

Viktoriia Torianyk, Head of Brand and Communications Department at Credit Agricole

124 million hryvnias is the amount allocated by Credit Agricole on various charitable projects since the start of the war. This amount covered 144 items of medical equipment for 20 hospitals as well as 2 specially equipped ambulances (basically, hospitals on wheels). It may seem unfathomable, but we managed to do it and have no intention to stop there.

The We Care! program was started in 2016 as a volunteer initiative. At the time the annual budget was UAH 200 thousand, and even though it grew by the year, we did not expect charity of the present scale. Currently it is a strategic wide-reaching program supported by the top management, with charity budgets in the millions and active engagement on the part of the employees. We Care! covers the 4 core areas: charity, volunteering, care for employees and environmental initiatives.

As the war broke out, the bank emphasized its strong social stance and significantly accelerated projects implementation. We have made a choice to act, to do everything in our power in this situation, to help those suffering hardships, to spread kindness and in doing so work towards victory.

Our charitable activities focus on those in a crisis – people who found themselves on hospital beds due to various circumstances. And it is the availability of modern equipment, medicines, patient beds and power generators in such institutions that often determines whether a patient survives and goes on to have a healthy life. That is why our main focus is on helping medical institutions.

Large-scale charitable projects of 2023

We purchased 2 intensive care ambulances of expert class worth over UAH 15 million in total for the children’s hospital in Dnipro and Emergency Medical Care and Disaster Medicine Center in Kharkiv region. We had dreamed of implementing this project for a while, but the cost was our entire annual budget. Now the intensive care ambulance in Dnipro is helping save lives of even premature babies, who are sadly being born this way more often due to expectant moms being in the state of stress. The regional medical center in Dnipro now receives patients from Dnipro, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The ambulance we donated to Kharkiv is universal, thus enabling doctors to provide intensive care and save lives of children and adults on the way to the hospital. Both vehicles are fitted with the full sets of modern equipment for advanced medical treatment, including the artificial lung ventilator.

Thanks to the support from the Group we were able to realise 2 far-reaching sessions of charity for the regional hospitals. We bought UAH 20 million worth of modern medical equipment for five regional hospitals in Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Lviv and Dnipro. The hospitals received the essential life-saving equipment, namely artificial lung ventilation devices, surgical medical aspirators, operating table, etc.

Another happy but complicated project was doing capital repairs of the intensive care unit in Kyiv Regional Perinatal Center. It will have 12 beds for preemies that doctors will be able to treat thanks to their expertise and the modern equipment. This unit is constructed in compliance with all the medical standards and requirements: special medical ventilation and air conditioning, modern panels, etc.

In the end of 2023, Veronique Faujour, Secretary General of Credit Agricole S.A., paid a visit to the perinatal center to extend the support from the Group in person. Saving children’s lives is incredibly important for us!

2 houses for large families

Last year, to mark Credit Agricole’s 30^th anniversary in Ukraine, we joined efforts with Kateryna Osadcha and Your Support charitable foundation to raise funds for the family-type home for children. The result surpassed our expectations! We were able to give 2 houses worth over UAH 6 million in total to two families who lost their homes due to the war. Carlos de Cordoue, Chairman of the Management Board, and Kateryna Osadcha stopped by to see one of the families in order to meet them in person and offer support. The meeting was incredibly hearwarming.

Another significant initiative was realized jointly with Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation. We donated modern equipment and furniture to fit the interior of interactive classrooms in bomb shelters of schools in Kharkiv and Sumy regions, so that the pupils could safely study even during air raid alerts.

Support from the large international Credit Agricole family

Thanks to unprecedented solidarity from the entire international Group and the great teamwork of the Ukrainian bank, we launched another venue for charity – assistance from the regional banks of the Group. We joined our efforts and have already implemented 9 projects with monetary value of UAH 23.5 million in the wartime. The projects also included procurement of 40 diesel power generators for social institutions and orphanages. We did it in November-December of 2022, in the most difficult period, when power generators were worth their weight in gold.

Also the regional banks of the Group take care of our employees’ children on St. Nicholas Day and September 1^st, the first day of school, by giving them presents in order to brighten their spirit for the holiday and support their parents financially. We wholeheartedly hope that we will go on to realise many more charitable initiatives with donations from the Group and the regional banks.

Two humanitarian convoys for those affected by the war

Two large humanitarian aid convoys were organized by the regional banks. 33 pallets of food products, other essentials, hygiene items were shipped to Kherson after Kakhovka dam disaster.

Later the Group donated basic necessities worth nearly UAH 800 thousand in total for Ukrainians affected by the war in Kherson, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Lviv regions.

Support for orphanages and “Tech equipment for the good” project

As part of We Care! program, we also help orphanages. The Bank and the regional teams procure basic necessities, medicines, toys and treats in order bring some moments of joy to the little ones deprived of parental care. We also donate power generators so that the buildings are lit and heated even in the critical periods, during shellings.

Also we have a separate project “Tech equipment for the good”, in the course of which the bank gives computers to orphanages, boarding schools and other non-profits that contacted us asking for help. Since the war broke out, we have also donated office equipment in order to enable the proper operations of financial and economic services of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Volunteering as part of the corporate culture for Credit Agricole team

The Bank demonstrates an exemplary social stance and is a driver for the team. Our colleagues are volunteers as well as bankers. We actively cultivate blood donation practice. As part of corporate social responsibility program “WeCare!” our employees regularly participate in blood drives in a number of cities in Ukraine. Recently our colleagues gathered at the head office and donated 17 liters of blood in one day for the needs of Kyiv hospitals and the Armed Forces.

We are immensely proud of Credit Agricole people, their courage and sincere desire to help those in need. As an example, our colleague Oleksii from Zaporizhzhia regional outlet together with the team helped sick children from Mariupol in the first days of the full-scale invasion: collected funds to buy medications and food for them. They also transferred humanitarian aid to the local territorial defence unit, military hospital and colleagues in the occupied cities of Polohy and Huliaipole. Thanks to efforts of our colleague Yuliia from the head office, 25 orphaned children from Kharkiv were given clothes, hygiene items, products, medications and other essentials. Last year, to mark the 30^th anniversary of Credit Agricole, our colleagues implemented roughly 40 charitable and social initiatives as well as collected UAH 132,000 for Tabletochki Charity Foundation for children battling cancer. We also showed our support for the World Heart Day by wearing red. Our team is the heart of Credit Agricole.

The above are just a few of the hundreds of good deeds we accomplished.

You can always rely on Credit Agricole! 30 years in Ukraine already.