Dusseldorf The fate of the people in Ukraine also touches many entrepreneurs. “People in Ukraine are at risk of losing everything they have built up, and children are suffering the most. They are defenseless and they cannot defend themselves against the war,” write Christian and Pia Berner. He heads the family business Berner Group, she is the head of the board of directors.
The trading company based in Cologne and Künzelsau has therefore donated 200,000 euros to aid organizations. The decision was made to be able to guarantee in the confusing situation that everything gets to the right place quickly, emphasizes Berner. Many other companies are also donating. Beiersdorf, for example, has each transferred one million euros to the Red Cross and Care Germany.
There is a great willingness to help throughout the economy, and money is not only flowing for those affected. For example, Telekom has provided all connections to and from Ukraine free of charge. Ukrainians can travel on Deutsche Bahn trains without a ticket, and Flixbus also offers free transport. Deutsche Messe AG in Hanover is preparing an entire exhibition hall as makeshift accommodation for refugees from the Ukraine.
Other entrepreneurial initiatives want to solve very specific problems together. Some companies have joined forces under the slogan “Hospitality Ukraine” to provide private accommodation for refugees from Ukraine.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The group account provider Elinor, the non-profit GLS Bank, the search engine Ecosia and the donation platform Betterplace have jointly activated an online platform on which people who can give a room to refugees for at least two weeks can register.
Private individuals offer 120,000 beds for refugees
The platform was online four hours after the idea. The response has overwhelmed the initiators. In the meantime, almost 50,000 supporters have found themselves offering more than 120,000 beds. Company employees are now taking care of bringing the refugees together with the hosts.
Meanwhile, numerous bus companies are taking care of the transport of donations and refugees, including the Nuremberg company “Crazy Tours” or the bus company Urban-Reisen from Gladbeck. A bus from Urban-Reisen left early Monday morning, laden with groceries, clothes and toys.
The company Rheinland Touristik works with the aid organization Blau-Gelbes Kreuz, which collects donations for Ukraine. The tourism company transports donated medicines, food, clothing and hygiene items to the Polish-Ukrainian border region. On the way back, it brings 200 Ukrainian orphans who are to find a new home in Germany. Other regional companies also support the Blue and Yellow Cross with donations in kind.
Entrepreneur Marcus Diekmann also has friends in Ukraine whom he wanted to bring to Germany. But he quickly realized that providing people with transport and accommodation is not enough. “It is also a question of human dignity that the refugees get a job here as quickly as possible,” he says.
Digital companies provide jobs for Ukrainians
Together with the digital companies Business-on.de, Minubo, Vow to the New and Shopware, he quickly set up a job placement portal for Ukrainian refugees. “Technologically, the platform is in place, it will go live by Wednesday at the latest,” says Christian Weis, whose team at Business-on.de has taken on the technical part. IT security is also important, he says, so that Russian hackers cannot paralyze the website.
>> Read here: How Anonymous’ hackers attack Russian bank, ministry and TV channel websites
“It’s overwhelming what incredible solidarity we get from all the companies we approach,” says Diekmann, who works as a managing director at a P&C subsidiary and sits on the advisory board of the bicycle dealer Rose Bikes. For example, the law firm Kliemt from Berlin offers free know-how for the refugees, such as information on concluding employment contracts.
The “Dealers help dealers” initiative, in which 4700 companies are organized, helps with the acquisition of jobs. But people are also needed in agriculture, the tech sector and care. “These are not alms that we distribute,” emphasizes Diekmann. “The companies are happy about new employees.”
More: All important news about the war in Ukraine