Edition 3
Over the first months of the War IT industry has been able to reformat, to preserve its operational activities and to actively support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the state overall during all this time. Together with the IT Ukraine Association team, we are continuing a series of publications on the contribution of the Association's companies to the victory of Ukraine.
Miratech
Employee Support during Wartime. 35% of employees have changed their location (abroad and within Ukraine). The company provided financial, organizational and informational support for relocation abroad, as well as within the country. Additionally, extra anti-crisis communication channels for employees and a 24/7 hotline work. Regular psychological trainings for employees are held with the involvement of external experts.
Armed Forces and Government Support. The company provided targeted aid to the Armed Forces in the amount of UAH 1 million. Taxes in the amount of UAH 2 million were transferred in advance. In the Andalusia community in Spain 50 lightboxes encouraging financial support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been installed.
Humanitarian Aid. Employees all around the world (Spain, Slovakia, Poland, Cyprus, Canada, the United States and other countries) volunteer to help Ukrainians who have had to leave their place of residence.
N-iX
Since the beginning of the War, thanks to contributions from the company and its employees, N-iX has raised more than UAH 14 million to support Ukraine, the Army and the temporarily displaced citizens. During this time, the company supports the following charitable initiatives:
Vehicle Purchase for Army Needs. 4 off-road cars and 2 minibuses were bought. They were sent to the front line and to Mariupol to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate people.
Necessary Equipment Transfer for Army. 4 thermal imagers, ammunition, tactical clothing, tents, pillows, mattresses were handed over. CEO and founder of N-iX, Andriy Pavliv, purchased 100 Kevlar body armor plates. Furthermore, 85 items of computer equipment were transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Territorial Defense Forces.
Return Alive Foundation Support. Since the beginning of the War, the company has collected UAH 900,000, which has been transferred to the Fund's accounts. The funds were used to purchase computers and mobile surveillance systems for the Army.
Temporarily Displaced Persons Support. The company has allocated USD 20,000 to support Lviv IT Cluster projects and to equip centers for temporarily displaced persons. The Lviv office of N-iX has organized a temporary shelter for colleagues and their relatives who come from different parts of Ukraine.
Colleagues Support who Joined Armed Forces. 20 sets of bulletproof vests and helmets were bought for them.
Help with Medicines. UAH 100,000 worth of medications were bought for the Children's department of the Kyiv City Hospital, as well as for the battalion where the company's employee serves.
Tax Pay Forward. The company paid taxes in the amount of UAH 3,427,655 in advance.
SQUAD
Employee Support. Prior to the full-scale invasion, the company had developed BCP (Business Continuity Planning) and prepared shelters in Western Ukraine (Lviv and Uzhhorod) for hosting people, as well as developing several scenarios of possible actions depending on the scale of the invasion. Thanks to the preparation, everyone knew how to act, and where shelters from SQUAD were located. After the invasion, the focus was moved to the safety of each team member. The SQUAD Status bot was created to determine the people’s location. Before the bot’s creation, it was done by a team of volunteers 24/7. In the first days of the War, all specialists, without exception, received relocation payments, which allowed them to cover the cost of renting in Ukraine and abroad. Health insurance was adapted in accordance with the capabilities of insurance companies.
At the same time, colleagues who went to relatively safe areas created a volunteer hub and organized a SQUAD Help Center to help in various areas:
- Assistance with the evacuation (320+ people from Kyiv, 80+ people from Kharkiv – it includes only buses, some were evacuated by private cars and volunteers helped them by finding safe routes).
- Assistance in finding permanent housing in relatively safe areas of Ukraine and abroad.
- Tracking the situation at the border.
- Assistance to hospitals and the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Territorial Defense Forces support.
- Developed SQUAD Help super document - an assistant in various areas: assistance with housing, transport, medicine and more.
- Based on SQUAD Help super document - developed SQUAD Help bot in order to reduce the burden on volunteers and speed up the information search for those who need it. Now anyone who needs information can easily get it with the help of the bot, as well as thank the volunteers for their work.
- In the Uzhhorod shelter, volunteers organized a children's room with a tutor.
From March 1, 2022, when the number of appeals began to be tracked, to March 18, 2022, the volunteers of the Help Center processed more than 450 unique requests from colleagues and their relatives.
From the first days, the company organized the Team psychological support:
- Collected in a Super Document the Self-help guide, where you can find contacts of psychologists and psychotherapists who provide help.
- Organized a series of webinars with experts on psychological support (how to support yourself, how to support others and individual webinars for volunteers), including how to talk to children.
- Introduced individual sessions of psychological support if needed.
All this has helped many of our colleagues and their relatives to maintain their emotional stability, mobilize and organize themselves. We support colleagues who have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Territorial Defense Forces with all the necessities.
Humanitarian Aid. From the first days, the company has been assisting Ukrainian hospitals with the purchase and delivery of necessary medicines, equipment and essentials. More than 60 boxes of medicines were handed over to the Territorial Defense Forces, and help to the Foster Care in Lviv was provided. Relations with Plast have been established allowing 2 large pallets of aid been transferred to hospitals in Poltava and Kharkiv. The company helps the families of colleagues who stayed in Kyiv with medicines. An agreement with BaDM was signed, thanks to which the necessary medicines were sent to Poltava Hospital. The supply of medicines from the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Turkey, as well as food for children in the Uzhhorod school was organized. 300 turnstiles were bought. The total amount of aid has been almost UAH 2 million. Financial aid continues to be provided on request, averaging almost UAH 600,000 per week.
Sayenko Kharenko
In these times which are difficult for everybody, the team of one of the leading law firms in Ukraine, Sayenko Kharenko, has united to help our country win the War. From the first days of the War, Sayenko Kharenko's staff have been volunteering at the Breathe Charitable Foundation. The fund was established by Sayenko Kharenko's partners together with Ukrainian businessmen to support medical institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, according to the situation in Ukraine, the foundation has changed its activities and transfers all charitable donations and humanitarian aid to support the civilian population of Ukraine. In particular, the fund supports hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes and hospices that lack essentials. Since the beginning of active hostilities in Ukraine, by the joint efforts of the Foundation, volunteers and concerned people from around the world more than UAH 3 million have been raised. You can find out more about the foundation's activities and support opportunities at https://dyhai.org/.
The team is currently processing requests and looking for necessities for:
- Kyiv Regional Hospital №2.
- "Regional Children's Clinical Hospital" Municipal Enterprise of the Sumy Regional Council.
- "Pryluky City Center for Primary Health Care" Municipal Non-Profit Enterprise.
- "Regional Children's Clinical Hospital" Regional Non-Profit Enterprise of the Kharkiv Regional Council.
- "St. Nicholas Hospital" Separate subdivision of the" Lviv Municipal Medical Association" municipal non-profit enterprise “Multidisciplinary Clinical Hospital of Intensive Care and Ambulance".
- "Regional Clinical Perinatal Center" Municipal Non-Profit Enterprise of the Kharkiv Regional Council.
- National Cancer Institute of Ukraine.
- "Life House" Geriatric Boarding House.
- "Silver Age" Private boarding house for the elderly.
Sigma Software
Sigma SoftWare and IdeaSoft Army and People Help. More than five years ago, Sigma SoftWare registered its own charity foundation to support numerous social initiatives. On February 24, 2022, the fund started working in new directions - assistance to the citizens and the Army. Sigma SoftWare and IdeaSoft Specialists, a Kharkiv IT service company that became a part of the Sigma SoftWare Group a year ago, serve as the main coordinators.
It all started as a continuation of the business continuity plan. This plan assumed the evacuation of specialists from companies from dangerous regions to Western Ukraine and abroad. During the first days and weeks, transport to evacuate employees together with family members from Kharkiv, Kyiv, Sumy, Dnipro, and Poltava was organized. The company provided everyone, including those evacuated with their own vehicles, with temporary housing and everything necessary for work and normal life. Currently, more than 95% of people have been transported to safe locations and have been able to return to work. With regards to the receipt of requests from citizens for help with evacuation, the company joined the evacuation of 1.5 thousand people.
Those who for any reason remain in hotspots also need help. Medicines, basic necessities, goods for children, food - from the first days people felt the lack of these goods. Among the specialists of Sigma SoftWare Group many volunteers appeared who help the population and the army every day. From the first day, the company together with specialists donated to support various projects. Thus, about UAH 10 million were collected and transferred to the Return Alive Foundation, UAH 500,000 were sent to the Lviv IT cluster to working with refugees, and taxes were paid in advance. In total, more than USD 1.5 million has been donated by Sigma SoftWare, IdeaSoft and their concerned customers to a variety of help. However, many places need specified help: through its own charitable foundation, the company provides assistance to people in trouble and to Ukrainian defenders.
The foundation has joined forces with the Red Cross-licensed construction company GenPro to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Kharkiv, and has become partnered with several retail and logistics giants, including Metro Cash & Carry, Epicentr K and Nova Poshta. In addition, the foundation is moving towards cooperation with a network of volunteer organizations. Today, Sigma SoftWare and IdeaSoft are financing the Venice Volunteer Hub in Mukachevo, which provides free meals and accommodation to internally displaced people. The company's specialists and members of their families are also creating similar volunteer hubs in Western Ukraine, with which the foundation plans to cooperate in the future. The fund has already spent USD 32,142,000, including USD 251,000 for evacuation by bus and about USD 20,000 for transportation by car. Another USD 16,000 was spent on the purchase and delivery of food and medicine, USD 2,176,000 on optics and others.
The foundation invites volunteer organizations and businesses to cooperate. You can donate by following this link. For other collaboration, write to the company's Facebook pages - Sigma SoftWare, IdeaSoft.
StronLegal
StronLegal transferred UAH 700,000 to the needs of the Armed Forces and Ukraine. The company has equipped employees who are at the forefront. It is also planned to purchase bulletproof vests for soldiers from Bila Tserkva.
All members of the IT Ukraine Association could take part in the publication of the following material. Contact person: Maryna Kalynovska, project manager (kalynovska@itukraine.org.ua).
