28 September, 2023
Hili Ventures and its subsidiaries across Europe are supporting the humanitarian effort in Ukraine by extending financial support to charities working to help thousands of people in need at the border and on the ground. More than 10 tonnes of supplies and many hours of medical assistance have been delivered to internally displaced Ukrainians and refugees thanks to this international collaboration.
Headquartered in Malta, Hili Ventures is engaged in multi-sited operations in partnership with McDonald’s and Apple, logistics, marine & engineering, property, technology, oil & gas, hospitality and leasing in 10 countries, including Romania, Poland and Hungary, which border Ukraine. The group has mainly leveraged its close relationship with the Ronald McDonald House Charities which is liaising with other organisations to provide aid.
“A few days after the invasion of Ukraine began in February, we began to identify ways in which we could be most effective with support and assistance,” Hili Ventures Chief Executive Officer Melo Hili explains. “Our best channel to contribute practically and immediately to the relief effort with supplies, resources and assistance is undoubtedly the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Our McDonald’s operating companies in Latvia, Romania and Malta are founding mission partners of the RMHC chapters in these countries.”
In the last few days, RMHC Romania deployed a truck with 10 tonnes of sanitary products, essentials and disinfectant from Bucharest to the border. In co-ordination with RMHC Ukraine, the goods were collected by a logistics NGO which delivered them to a Red Cross depot at Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. The aid was distributed to around 10,000 people close to the epicentre of the attack on the country. Back in Romania, where refugees are crossing over consistently, the RMHC House in Timisoara is hosting families whose children are being treated at the Louis Turcanu Hospital.
RMHC Latvia, in co-ordination with the RMHC Chapters in Ukraine and Poland and RMHC Global, deployed its Care Mobile – a fully equipped mobile clinic – to Przemysl in Poland, the city receiving refugees from the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing point. A Polish medical team boarded after supplies were loaded and the vehicle made its way to Ukraine where it was handed over to RMHC Ukraine at the Mostyska train station in the Lviv region. Over four days, the Care Mobile visited nearby villages housing refugees and provided medical care to more than 100 patients, including babies and elderly people.
The Care Mobile then returned to the train station in Mostyska where people required urgent assistance having not received medical care for many days after fleeing the fighting.
Meanwhile, other Hili Ventures subsidiaries have organised smaller consignments of essentials, mobile device charging cables and accessories and have delivered them to organisations working with refugees in Poland and Hungary.
“We are distressed by the tragedy in Ukraine and the displacement of Ukrainians as they seek safety across Eastern Europe, a region that is so close to our hearts,” Hili Ventures Chairman Archie Bethel said. “While we have no commercial interests or staff in Ukraine, our thoughts are with the people of this independent nation. We hope for a peaceful resolution to this horrific crisis soon and pledge to continue to do what we can to help. There is so much more that we can and will do to stand with Ukraine.”
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