Solidarity with Ukraine. Donations and voluntary help for refugees.
In the words of Knorr-Bremse’s Executive Board, “This war is not only an attack on a free country, but also an attack on our liberal values in Europe”. The Company has backed up these words with action, in the form of donations worth over EUR 1.3 million and the voluntary help provided locally by its employees.
The devastating impact of the war in Ukraine is also being felt by Knorr-Bremse employees, since many of our Ukrainian colleagues have friends and family there. The Company has rallied round in impressive fashion. As soon as the war started, several sites – especially those near the Ukrainian border – took in refugee families and began collecting donations locally. Food, medicine and clothing were brought to the Ukrainian border, in some cases in the Company’s own vans. “When the war in Ukraine broke out, we immediately assured our Ukrainian colleagues that we would be there for them and their families, come what may”, says Eva Kubesova, HR manager at Knorr-Bremse in the Czech Republic. “Everyone here at the Liberec site has done their bit – it has been a genuinely heartfelt response”.
Thanks to the extremely generous donations made by everyone from trainees to senior executives in every part of the business and at sites all over the world, we have been able to raise a total of EUR 1,333,687.84. Knorr-Bremse donated EUR 500,000 immediately after the war broke out; Knorr-Bremse Global Care donated a further EUR 50,000; and the Company has matched the total of EUR 391,843.92 donated by its employees. We are using this money to support the relief being provided to Ukraine by organizations such as the German Red Cross and UNICEF .
Knorr-Bremse has clearly demonstrated its solidarity with Ukraine and – by providing everything from donations to language courses, job offers and accommodation – the Company will continue to do what it can to alleviate the victims’ suffering.