Another company withdraws UAH 5 million donation to Okhmatdyt
5 September 2024 16:14
Ukrhydroenergo has decided to withdraw a charitable donation of UAH 5 million that it had previously made to the National Children’s Specialised Hospital Okhmatdyt. This is reported by Komentarii, which the company responded to the request, reports "Komersant Ukrainian"
The reason for this decision was the lack of guarantees regarding the targeted use of funds that should have been intended to restore the hospital after the rocket attack. Initially, Ukrhydroenergo, together with the Primary Trade Union Organisation of the Cascade of Kyiv HPPs and PSPs branch, transferred the money to the Okhmatdyt-Zdorovoye Dytstvo Charitable Foundation to provide emergency care to the victims and restore the hospital.
However, when selecting a contractor to carry out the restoration work, serious questions arose about the legality of the tender procedure. This led to the cancellation of the tender and the opening of several criminal proceedings.
“Ukrhydroenergo explained that the Okhmatdyt-Zdorovoye Dytstvo Charitable Foundation was unable to provide guarantees of the intended use of the funds received, which was the reason for their withdrawal.
Despite this situation, Ukrhydroenergo has expressed its readiness to act as a benefactor for Okhmatdyt again in the future. However, this will only happen after all the necessary checks are completed and a new, transparent tender procedure is held to select a contractor.
It is worth noting that this is not the first such case. Earlier, another major Ukrainian company, Ukrnafta, also withdrew a UAH 5 million donation intended for Okhmatdyt. The reasons were similar: the lack of a detailed plan for the use of funds and uncertainty about the intended purpose of the funding.
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Okhmatdyt: attack and reconstruction
on 8 July 2024, Russia attacked Okhmatdyt with an X-101 cruise missile. At the time of the strike, the hospital had about 1,200 people in the hospital and was performing 3 complex surgeries. The attack killed 2 people and injured about 300, including 8 children.
The attack damaged 24 hospital departments. In particular, 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 power substations that powered the hospital’s entire infrastructure were also destroyed.
Immediately after the attack on the hospital, Ukrainians started raising funds to rebuild Okhmatdyt and raised about UAH 1.6 billion. However, the hospital’s charitable foundation was then caught up in a scandal. 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 the 14 bidders. The Ministry of Health decided to cancel the previous tender and hold a new one through the Prozorro system.
In this regard, numerous inspections by the Ministry of Health and law enforcement agencies were ordered, and the director of Okhmatdyt, Volodymyr Zhovnir, was suspended from his duties and temporarily replaced by Oleksandr Urin. A Council for the Restoration of Okhmatdyt was also established to approve a phased plan for the hospital’s reconstruction.
Despite this, a lawsuit was filed against the Okhmatdyt Foundation demanding that all funds raised be transferred to a special account for the Okhmatdyt hospital. And Ukrnafta withdrew its UAH 5 million donation with a promise to transfer the funds to the account for the intended purpose.
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