Large business, local authorities create regional crisis response team to combat COVID-19

Ukrainian businessmen will create and head response teams to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19. It was arranged at a meeting of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with representatives of large business early this week.

In particular, Oleksandr Yaroslavsky (DCH) creates the response team in Kharkiv region, Andriy Stavnitser (TIS) in Odesa region, Yuriy Kosiuk (MHP) in Vinnitsa and Cherkasy regions, Ihor Voronov in Kyiv region, Hennadiy Butkevich (ATB) in Zhytomyr region, Victor Pinchuk (EastOne) in Dnipropetrovsk region, Andriy Verevsky (Kernel) in Poltava and Kirovohrad regions, a source in business circles has said.

According to information available on Wednesday, these response teams have already been created in Kharkiv region, headed by Yaroslavsky, Head of the Regional Administration Oleksiy Kucher and Mayor of Kharkiv Hennadiy Kernes, and in Odesa region, led by TIS co-owner Stavnitser and Head of the Regional Administration Maksym Kutsy.

"Oleksandr Yaroslavsky leads the response team. His main mission is to organize filling the budget of its fund with everything required. These are masks, these are test systems. These are artificial lungs ventilation machines. We discussed the issue of attracting other businessmen with Oleksandr and Hennadiy Kernes," Kucher said at the first meeting of the Kharkiv response team on March 17.

"The enterprises of the MHP group, together with local government bodies, create and ensure the operation of the response team for the development of areas that are safe for living and working for our citizens in Cherkasy and Vinnytsia regions," the MHP told Interfax-Ukraine.

Stavnitser on its Facebook page also announced the holding of the first meeting of the crisis response team in Odesa region. According to him, the head of the Monster Corporation Charitable Foundation Kateryna Nozhevnikova and businessman Vadym Morokhovsky have already joined it. "Many more will definitely join," he said.

The founder of TIS said that the issue of primary necessity is the purchase of artificial lungs ventilation machines. The region has 72 machines, and about 30-40% of them are occupied, and some are not suitable, outdated or not equipped with consumables. "Under an optimistic scenario, there are 40 pieces of effective and suitable for the fight against COVID-19. We bought 14 new ones, we are waiting. This is still critically few. One patient spends two or three weeks using one machine!" Stavnitser said.

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua