CEZ to send Kc4m to Ukraine, Kc5m to help refugees in Czechia

Prague, March 1 (CTK) - Energy group CEZ will send Kc4m to selected organisations in Ukraine, of which Kc2m were collected by employees and the CEZ Foundation doubled the amount, and another Kc5m will be provided by the CEZ Foundation to help refugees in Czechia, CEZ CEO Daniel Benes tweeted today.

CEZ's donation drive will continue until mid-March.

The sum of Kc4m will be donated to the Czech Red Cross and the ADRA foundation, Benes said.

In addition, Kc5m will go to a newly launched crisis grant to support organisations, towns and villages that provide accommodation and everything needed for people from Ukraine, he said. The crisis grant will run until May 2.

Another energy supplier, E.ON, also plans to help Ukraine. It will focus its aid on helping people fleeing Ukraine as well as people directly in Ukraine, said Claudia Viohl, CEO of E.ON in Czechia.

The company will donate Kc10m to NGO People in Need, which provides humanitarian aid in the region, and it also will offer accommodation to refugee families in company-owned holiday facilities.

E.ON will additionally send money collected by its employees directly to Czech municipalities providing housing for people from Ukraine. It may also offer energy technologies to potential refugee camps.

Founder of Usti nad Labem-based electricity and gas supplier Centropol Ales Graf and his wife will donate Kc10m for food and accommodation for refugees via the ENERGIE POMAHA endowment fund.

Companies owned by Czech entrepreneur Pavel Tykac will give Kc100m to help Ukraine and want to help reduce the energy impacts of the conflict, said Gabriela Sarickova Benesova, spokeswoman for Tykac's Sev.en Energy group, a major player on the Czech energy market.

A portion of the money donated through the Tykac family foundation will go to a collection account for Ukraine, and additional funds will be given to projects of partner towns and municipalities organising accommodation for war refugees and their adaptation to new conditions.

Public benefit company Women for Women, headed by Tykac's wife Ivana Tykac, will also provide aid.

"We are ready to provide immediate financial assistance to the orphans of Ukrainian soldiers," Ivana Tykac said.

Women for Women has already begun providing accommodation for mothers and children fleeing the affected areas.

The Sev.en Energy group has also started a donation drive among employees and selected job positions that could be offered to refugees or to people who have lived in Czechia for some time but lost their main source of income when their breadwinners left to fight in Ukraine, Sarickova Benesova said.

A number of other Czech firms and entrepreneurs have also envisaged financial aid for Ukrainians.

Investment group PPF, which was owned by the richest Czech Petr Kellner until his death last March, and The Kellner Family Foundation will give Kc100m for the education and integration of refugee children.

Ivo Lukacovic, who owns the Seznam.cz internet firm, said last week that he would provide Kc23m in aid of the refugees.

Alza.cz, an online retailer, has earmarked Kc24m for this purpose, and over Kc20m has also been provided for immediate humanitarian aid by the Pale Fire Capital investment group.

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