Funds for Okhmatdyt need international control, otherwise there will be a scandal – Nefyodov
17 August 2024 12:11
The scandal surrounding the funds raised to rebuild Okhmatdyt is gaining momentum. The focus is on the issue of transparency and efficiency in the use of charitable donations. Maxim Nefyodov, Director of Innovative Solutions at KSE Institute, in his commentary on the latest scandal with donations for reconstruction, made a sharp conclusion: if international organisations do not take control of the use of these funds, the situation will certainly end in a major scandal, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
“I have only one conclusion from this scandal – if the money donated for a specific reconstruction is not managed by international organisations, there is no doubt that the result will be a huge scandal and then a couple of houses for the hospital/foundation management,” he said.
For a balance of opinions, it is worth paying attention to other views. Nefyodov said that, for example, a blog post by one of the pro-bono anti-crisis PR specialists of the Okhmatdyt National Specialised Hospitalhighlighted the other side of the conflict. She noted the following:
- “Journalists did not take comments from the right people.”
- “There were paid-for publications from construction companies that had quarreled.”
- “Someone spent time counting the negative comments under the head’s post.”
- “Doctors, instead of trusting professionals, decided to build themselves and plunge into the DBNs.”
- “There were no comments at the closed meeting, and then they appeared – he calls it a betrayal.”
- “If you keep asking about tenders and amounts, the professionals threaten to quit.”
The situation looks rather sad, he concludes.
“Of course, there is hope that ‘they mean well, they just don’t know how to say it’, but in general, there is sadness and confusion…”, says Nefyodov, but in general, the situation is alarming and disappointing.
On 16 August, it became known that the Okhmatdyt – Healthy Childhood charity foundation, which received donations for the hospital’s reconstruction, had “no plans” to transfer the funds raised to the hospital’s official accounts.
According to the hospital’s director, since the first public scandals and the request to transfer money for the reconstruction of the hospital from the foundation’s account to the hospital’s account, their communication with the foundation has been deteriorating.
on 16 August, the director of the Okhmatdyt hospital, Volodymyr Zhovnir , publicly called on the charity to transfer all the money raised. Now the hospital is considering severing relations with the foundation due to their “unfair actions”.
It is noted that Okhmatdyt will appeal to law enforcement agencies due to the delay in the transfer of funds for the hospital’s restoration by the charity.
“The National Healthcare Centre “Okhmatdyt” is considering terminating its legal relations with the foundation, whose actions are unfair and potentially fraudulent. In order to ensure the earliest possible start of the hospital’s reconstruction and due to the need to restore the damaged hospital buildings before the start of the cold season, to protect the rights of its patients and partners, and to protect the interests of the state, the hospital administration is also ready to apply to law enforcement agencies,” the Okhmatdyt website says.
The charity’s website states that all the money raised will remain on its accounts. And the foundation is ready to pay for any need of the hospital: medical equipment or renovation of buildings, “only official requests and designation are needed. As it has always been.”
The situation around Okhmatdyt has already caused a wave of public outrage.
In her latest commentary,MP Sofia Fedina spoke out sharply against the activities of the foundation, accusing it of attempting to embezzle almost 150 million hryvnias donated by Ukrainians to rebuild the hospital.
“The foundation that tried to communalise almost UAH 150 million that people donated to rebuild the children’s hospital through tenders. The fund that chose a company for the reconstruction that does not even have the capacity to perform the work, nor has it submitted a proper proposal,” Fedyna said, emphasising the incompetence and possible corruption schemes associated with this fund.
Fedyna also called the fund “the fund of the next KVN hosts”, emphasising her dissatisfaction and distrust of the organisation, which, in her words, is not capable of ensuring the quality of the reconstruction of Okhmatdyt.
“Now the question is that all the money that people donated for the reconstruction of Okhmatdyt is in some obscure fund, and what to do with it, how to get it out of there,” Fedina said, stressing the need to check the fund’s activities and ensure that the money is returned to the hospital’s accounts to start reconstruction as soon as possible.
Fedyna also asked the law enforcement agencies when they would finally take an interest in the activities of the foundation and help with the process of transferring funds to the hospital’s accounts. She emphasised that the reconstruction of Okhmatdyt should begin as soon as possible, and for this purpose it is necessary to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of charitable donations.
MP Iryna Gerashchenko said:
“Today we are witnessing a public conflict and an incomprehensible political game when the hospital director claims that he was misled and that no one from the hospital has anything to do with the foundation. It’s a shame that makes me sick to my stomach. The reaction of law enforcement agencies must be urgent!”
The MP added that the society now wants to know how hundreds of millions could be collected from partners and the public without guaranteeing their control by the hospital and what the reaction and actions of the Recovery Council, which was created by the Ministry of Health, will be.
MP Oleksiy Honcharenko also shared his opinion on the incident.
“UAH 378 million is still on their accounts. At the same time, this Fund now says that they are waiting for some targeted needs and grounds for transferring money. And I’d like to remind you of the tender where a contractor was selected as the winner at inflated prices, but then everyone “amicably” cancelled it and promised to hold a new one. So what about the new tender?” Goncharenko wrote.
Businessmen who donated millions to Okhmatdyt also demand a report on the funds raised. For example, Ukrainian businessman, founder and CEO of MS Capital holding Maxim Shkil, who donated UAH 5 million to restore the Okhmatdyt hospital, called for detailed information on the funds raised and an explanation of why the work on restoring the hospital has not yet begun
Russian missile attack on the Okhmatdyt hospital on 8 July
on 8 July 2024, during another massive missile attack during the Russian-Ukrainian war, the hospital suffered significant damage from a Russian X-101 cruise missile. The strike damaged the hospital’s buildings, destroyed some of the medical facility’s buildings, smashed windows and glass, and caused casualties.
The Russians destroyed the building of the Toxicology Department, where seriously ill children were on dialysis, five oncology departments, ten surgical departments, two somatic departments, an intensive care unit, two intensive care units, operating units, radiotherapy and radiotherapy departments, and three other buildings were damaged. Two electrical substations that powered the hospital’s entire infrastructure were also destroyed.
As of mid-day, two adults (one of them a doctor) and seven children were known to have been killed and injured. on 10 July, a boy died who was in critical condition in the intensive care unit at the time of the attack on Okhmatdyt on 8 July.
on 9 July 2024, the director of Okhmatdyt, Volodymyr Zhovnir, addressed the UN Security Council. In his speech, he stated that at the time of the attack, about 1,200 people were in the hospital and 3 complex operations were underway. The attack killed 2 people and injured about 300, including 8 children. He also noted that the attack damaged 24 departments, which will limit the ability to provide quality medical services to those in need.
Immediately after the attack on the hospital, Ukrainians began raising funds to rebuild Okhmatdyt and, according to Health Minister Viktor Liashko, raised more than UAH 1 billion. However, the hospital’s charitable foundation has since found itself at the centre of a scandal when choosing a contractor to repair the damaged building. The foundation chose Bud-Technology LLC as the winner of the tender, despite the fact that this offer was one of the most expensive among 14 bidders. The Ministry of Health decided to cancel the previous tender and hold a new one through the Prozorro system.
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