The Vadym Novynskyi Foundation has provided more than 430 million hryvnia (about $11.6 million) in assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in late February 2022. The foundation continues to provide humanitarian aid, especially for the city of Mariupol. This metropolis is located in eastern Ukraine on the coast of the Black Sea, where some of the war’s fiercest fighting has taken place. Mariupol had a population of over 100,000 before the war started, but its civilian population has been almost entirely evacuated since then.
The foundation sent over 38 million hryvnia in food and medical supplies to that city by April 2022, but much of these initial shipments failed to reach their destination. Russian troops refused to allow some of these shipments through, and others were lost to looters or damaged in combat. The foundation also spent 3.8 million hryvnia on vehicles and fuel for evacuating citizens. In addition, some of this money was also spent on transportation by private vehicles.
Vadym Novynskyi is a businessperson and former politician who founded Smart Holding Group in 2006 as a holding company to manage his assets and those of his partner Andrei Klyamko. His net worth was estimated at $1.9 billion in March 2013, but many of his assets are in Ukraine, and that figure is undoubtedly much lower now as a result of the war.
Before the war, SHG invested heavily in many essential sectors of Ukraine’s economy, including mining, metal refinement, oil and gas, real estate, shipbuilding, and agriculture. SHG’s biggest investment is Metinvest, which is a leading producer of iron ore in Ukraine.
The Vadym Novynskyi Foundation is Smart Holding Group’s charitable arm. It allocates 250 million hryvnia for community and humanitarian aid each year, including faith-based, medical, and social initiatives. These resources have largely been devoted to mediating the hardships the Ukrainian people have faced during the past year, including casualties, loss of infrastructure, and lack of basic supplies. The foundation has been particularly focused on caring for the many people who have been displaced as a result of the war, particularly in eastern Ukraine.
Medical Supplies
The foundation bought 14.6 million hryvnia in medical supplies from Israeli sources in March 2022, including hemostatic agents, needles, and tourniquets. It delivered these supplies to hospitals in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine. Hospitals in the Zaporizhzhia region received equipment worth 45.5 million hryvnia, which included a lung ventilator, heart monitors, portable ultrasound systems, neonatal incubators, and vacuum therapy devices. The foundation also bought 4,000 U.S. military first-aid kits worth more than 12 million hryvnia. Additional medical supplies worth about 2.89 million hryvnia will be delivered to Ukrainian military units upon request.
Facilities
The foundation has also provided funds, equipment, or services to repair facilities that have been damaged during the war. These include a donation of 700,000 hryvnia to restore the branch of Ukraine’s Heart Institute located in Irpin. It also bought power generators worth 40.5 million hryvnia for various hospitals, military compounds, and social institutions. In addition, the foundation has spent a total of 600,000 hryvnia on shelters in Athens, Greece, which are housing the staff and pupils of an orphanage.
Ambulances
The foundation is currently conducting one of the world’s most significant humanitarian projects involving the delivery of ambulances. It has spent over 86 million hryvnia on this initiative over the past year to perform complete maintenance on 120 ambulances and deliver them to medical facilities, both civilian and military. The foundation spent another 6.6 million hryvnia on ambulances in 2023.
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