The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and FUIB Donated the First Batch of Oxygen Concentrators to Ukrainian Doctors

On 16 December, V.P. Pavlusenko Zhytomyr Municipal Hospital No. 2 received six oxygen concentrators. This was a gift to healthcare specialists from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and FUIB.

‘In total, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and FUIB will supply to doctors 140 oxygen concentrators that 27 hospitals will receive in various regions of Ukraine. The delivery of this equipment is a logical extension of large-scale and systematic assistance to the public healthcare system in the fight against COVID-19, which the Foundation and businesses of SCM Group have been rendering since February 2020. During the pandemic, healthcare professionals received about 200 high-class lung ventilators, 200,000 personal protective equipment kits and consumables, 337,000 express tests and over 1,000 units of medical and laboratory equipment,’ said Natalya Yemchenko, a member of the Foundation’s Supervisory Board.

Oxygen concentrators are vital equipment for treatment of moderate severity COVID-19 patients. The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and FUIB provide doctors with 10-litre KSOC-5 oxygen concentrators manufactured by Jiangsu Konsung Bio-Medical Science and Technology Co. Ltd. This model can simultaneously supply oxygen to two patients who need oxygen support during COVID-19 treatment. Such safe and energy-efficient oxygen concentrators will also be useful for doctors after the pandemic is over. They can be used in treatment of not only the respiratory system’s diseases, but also diseases of the cardiovascular and cerebral vascular systems, as well as during hypoxia.

‘FUIB strives to help hospitals in the fight against COVID-19, to support patients and doctors. Together with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, the bank will deliver 31 oxygen concentrators to hospitals in the northern region. This is the area of our business operations and our homeland. We believe that modern equipment will help doctors save lives of Ukrainians and contribute to the development of the country's healthcare system,’ said Serhiy Sotnychenko, head of department No. 2 of FUIB in Zhytomyr.

Ihor Kukharuk, the director of V.P. Pavlusenko Zhytomyr Municipal Hospital No. 2, noted that the assistance that the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and FUIB provide to doctors is inestimable.

‘The medical community is very grateful for the assistance previously provided by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation to the hospital, namely the lung ventilator. Oxygen concentrators that our hospitals receive today will make it possible to save even more human lives and will be useful after overcoming the pandemic in treatment of patients with pulmonary pathology,’ said Ihor Kukharuk.

Maryia Mysiurova, deputy mayor of Zhytomyr, thanked the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and FUIB for their help:

‘The city’s healthcare facilities receive strong support from businesses. The hospitals received in kind charitable aid worth UAH 13 million. The partnership between the authorities, businesses and charitable foundations, in particular FUIB and the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, is an excellent example of joining efforts to overcome the pandemic.’

When Ukraine faced the pandemic, Rinat Akhmetov was the first to come to help to the healthcare system. He pooled the resources of his Charitable Foundation, DTEK, FC Shakhtar and other SCM assets and allocated UAH 300 million to help the country fight against COVID-19. This is the largest contribution from one philanthropist to the public healthcare system. For efficient operation, the Foundation created the project Fighting COVID-19 in Ukraine, which became part of the program Rinat Akhmetov – Saving Lives. The project is unprecedented for the country. This is the largest-scale and most systematic private initiative aimed at helping public healthcare facilities in the fight against COVID-19.