Ukrainian entrepreneur, founder and CEO of MS Capital holding Maxim Shkil, who donated UAH 5 million to rebuild the Okhmatdyt hospital, called for detailed information on the funds raised and an explanation of why the hospital’s reconstruction work has not yet begun, Komersant ukrainskyi
reports
The lack of transparent information on charitable funds is a cause for concern among those who have provided financial support for the hospital’s reconstruction after the shelling.
One of the main concerns of philanthropists is whether the funds raised through the UNITED 24 platform are included in the total amount available on the accounts of the Okhmatdyt – Healthy Childhood charity fund.
“Do the funds available on the accounts of the Okhmatdyt – Healthy Childhood charitable foundation include the funds raised by UNITED 24? Please provide public information on how much and which fund has raised funds for the restoration of the hospital,” Shkil wrote on his Facebook page .
He also drew attention to the fact that, given the urgency of the need, reconstruction work should have started the very next day after the shelling.
“Why hasn’t the restoration of the Okhmatdyt hospital started yet? Why hasn’t the reconstruction work started the next day after the shelling of the hospital – given the urgency of the need, the legislation gives all the powers to do so? If you cannot organise the reconstruction process, please invite those who have the expertise and understanding to do it – we will advise you how to do it quickly without making money and extra charges – these are children, and in a few months it will be winter,” Shkil stressed.
For his part, he also appealed to Health Minister Viktor Lyashko to understand the degree of responsibility in the hospital’s restoration.
On 16 August, it was reported that the Okhmatdyt – Healthy Childhood charitable foundation, which received donations for the hospital’s reconstruction, had “no plans” to transfer the funds raised to the hospital’s official accounts.
According to the hospital’s director, since the first public scandals and the request to transfer money for the reconstruction of the hospital from the foundation’s account to the hospital’s account, their communication with the foundation has been deteriorating.
on 16 August , Volodymyr Zhovnir publicly called on the charity to transfer all the money raised. Now the hospital is considering severing relations with the foundation due to their “unfair actions”.
The charity’s website says that all the money raised will remain on its accounts. And the foundation is ready to pay for any need of the hospital: medical equipment or renovation of buildings, “only official requests and designation are needed. As it has always been.”
Russian missile attack on the Okhmatdyt hospital on 8 July
on 8 July 2024, during another massive missile attack during the Russian-Ukrainian war, the hospital suffered significant damage from a Russian X-101 cruise missile strike. The strike damaged the hospital’s buildings, destroyed some of the medical facility’s buildings, smashed windows and glass, and caused casualties.
The Russians destroyed the building of the Toxicology Department, where seriously ill children were on dialysis, five oncology departments, ten surgical departments, two somatic departments, an intensive care unit, two intensive care units, operating units, radiotherapy and radiotherapy departments, and three other buildings were damaged. Two electrical substations that powered the hospital’s entire infrastructure were also destroyed.
As of mid-day, two adults (one of them a doctor) and seven children were known to have been killed and injured. on 10 July, a boy died who was in critical condition in the intensive care unit at the time of the attack on Okhmatdyt on 8 July.
on 9 July 2024, the director of Okhmatdyt, Volodymyr Zhovnir, addressed the UN Security Council. In his speech, he stated that at the time of the attack, about 1,200 people were in the hospital and 3 complex operations were underway. The attack killed 2 people and injured about 300, including 8 children. He also noted that the attack damaged 24 departments, which will limit the ability to provide quality medical services to those in need.
Immediately after the attack on the hospital, Ukrainians began raising funds to rebuild Okhmatdyt and, according to Health Minister Viktor Liashko, raised more than UAH 1 billion. However, the hospital’s charitable foundation has since found itself at the centre of a scandal when choosing a contractor to repair the damaged building. The foundation chose Bud-Technology LLC as the winner of the tender, despite the fact that this offer was one of the most expensive among 14 bidders. The Ministry of Health decided to cancel the previous tender and hold a new one through the Prozorro system.