Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on the nation’s wealthiest businessmen to donate funds and equipment to help fight the coronavirus inside the country.
Zelenskiy met with the top business owners at his office in Kyiv on March 16 as the country registered its fifth case of the COVID-19 infection. The president said he told the tycoons that the country needed 500 ambulances and as much as 13 billion hryvnya ($490 million) for medicine.
“Business should be socially responsible during diffucult times for the government. Ukrainians should feel protected when they go to state hospitals. And I insist that you help now,” Zelenskiy told the businessmen.
Ukraine is one of Europe’s poorest countries with an outdated and underfunded health-care system that could be quickly overwhelmed if coronavirus cases spike inside the country.
The attendees included among others Rinat Akhmetov, the nation’s wealthiest man, and Ihor Kolomoyskiy, a billionaire who has business ties with Zelenskiy and was seen by many as being one of his main backers during his presidential campaign last year.
Akhmetov donated four artificial lung-ventilation devices to the Health Ministry as well as hazmat suits, thermometers, and face masks.
Viktor Pinchuk, the billionaire owner of a pipe company, has donated 10 lung-ventilation devices to hospitals in Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine.
Akhmetov, Kolomoyskiy, and Pinchuk made their initial wealth by scooping up Ukrainian state assets on the cheap during the turbulent 1990s in a process that many citizens consider to have been unfair.
They are among a group of businessmen, known as oligarchs, that control a massive swath of the Ukrainian economy.
Several other wealthy businessmen are purchasing used ventilation devices in the United States for delivery to Ukraine.
Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of the Alibaba Group, one of China’s largest technology companies, financed the purchase of 1 million coronavirus testing kits for Ukraine at a cost of $80 million, Zelenskiy said. The testing kits will arrive on March 21 from China, he added.
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
Why The BRICS Summit In Russia Could Be The Most Important One Yet
2U.S. 'Highly Concerned' About Reports Of North Korean Troops Joining Russians In Ukraine
3Results Show Moldovans Determined To Continue On Way To Europe, Sandu Says
4Men Dragged Off The Street As Ukraine Tries To Tackle Manpower Crisis At The Front
5Ukrainian Drones Reportedly Target Russian Military Plant, Moscow
6The UN Says Crimea Is Ukrainian. So Why Did Its Nuclear Agency Fund Russian Research There?
7U.S. Probing Reported Leak Of Israel's Plans For Iran Attack
8Early Results Give Pro-Europe President Sandu Lead In Moldova Vote But EU Referendum Lagging
9Moldova's Razor-Thin EU 'Yes' Vote Puts President Sandu In A Tight Spot
10Romania Detects Another Unidentified Object Breaching Its Airspace
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.