Investment of 3 million dollars. How a community in Kyiv region is rebuilding a kindergarten after the occupation – Publications

Two years after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the village of Bohdanivka of the Velikodymer community in the Kyiv region is still recovering from the horrors of Russian aggression. During the occupation, which lasted for about a month, many buildings in the village were damaged, including the building of a kindergarten attended by about 80 children. The other day they started rebuilding it.

The Coca-Cola System undertook to do this, investing 3 million US dollars in the project. The goal of the initiative is to help and support the community where the only Coca-Cola plant in Ukraine is located. The project will be implemented by the Ukrainian Red Cross.

Journalists of UP. Life visited the event dedicated to the start of reconstruction and will tell what the kindergarten will be like, when the works are planned to be completed and how soon children will be able to resume the educational process.

“The reconstruction of the kindergarten is another proof of Coca-Cola’s desire to help Ukrainians and support communities where our employees live and work. This project is a sign of gratitude and respect for Ukrainians, a continuation of our work to support Ukrainian communities.

Many humanitarian projects have already been successfully implemented, but we are not going to stop, and we will inform you about further initiatives later,” says Adnan Topich, General Director of Coca-Cola HBC in Ukraine, Armenia and Moldova.

Over the past two years, the Coca-Cola Company System together with the Coca-Cola Foundation have provided Ukrainians with charitable assistance in the amount of over $35 million. for the implementation of a number of social projects and initiatives.

In particular, together with the Ukrainian Red Cross, 45 mobile gas and diesel boilers, as well as 70,000 grocery sets, 5,000 winter sets with warm blankets, over fifty powerful generators for medical, educational and humanitarian purposes were purchased and transferred to the communities of Ukraine. institutions In addition, during the war, all 104 employees of the company, who are now defending the country in the ranks of the Armed Forces, have saved their jobs and are paid an average salary.

“Children are our future, and our nation depends on their well-being. Therefore, rebuilding a kindergarten is an important step in supporting children and their development. We are proud that we were able to participate in the development of the community where we work and function. Finally, a place where two years that’s why there were ruins, they became a construction site, and later it will turn into a new kindergarten. It is a symbol of our indomitability and recovery,” says Olena Sereda, CEO of Coca-Cola Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Red Cross acted as a partner in the reconstruction of the kindergarten. Coca-Cola and the humanitarian organization UChH share many years of active cooperation in the implementation of humanitarian projects, notes Maksym Dotsenko, director general of the National Committee of the Ukrainian Red Cross. But now cooperation is reaching a new level, because now it is also about reconstruction and reconstruction.

At the beginning of 2024, the Ukrainian Red Cross received the necessary permits to start work.

“Today, you can make sure that the works have already started. I hope that these works will be completed quickly,” Mr. Maksym notes.

“This will be one of the best kindergartens in the Kyiv region”

In the spring of 2022, 18 settlements were occupied near Brovary, one of which was Bohdanivka. Russian troops entered here already on March 8. Material losses were huge: more than 70 buildings were damaged. Among them, a school and a kindergarten were destroyed.

When the occupiers left the village, they set fire to the premises of the kindergarten where ammunition was stored. Some of the explosive objects were detonated, and the explosion also damaged a nearby building – the local dispensary, recalls Oleksandr Kutsenko, the deputy village head of the Velikodymer OTG.

Due to the large-scale war, about 70% of the population left the community. When people began to return to Bohdanivka and other neighboring villages after the forced evacuation, many shops were still closed. Local residents have just begun the journey to return to their normal lives. Even then, Coca-Cola began to provide people with food kits, water and other urgently needed things.

Last year, the issue of rebuilding the kindergarten began to be discussed in more detail. Now preschool children are forced to take them to study in other settlements every day, because after the destruction of the kindergarten in Bohdanivka, there is no other such institution. The deputy head of the OTG hopes that such a place will appear here very soon, and the kindergarten will open its doors again – already in an updated form, adds Oleksandr Kutsenko.

“I want to emphasize that without children we have no future. And it is extremely pleasant that Coca-Cola once again joins such necessary assistance – the reconstruction of a kindergarten. But the most important thing, in addition to material assistance, is moral support. We have already received generators from the company, and food kits, and other assistance. I have already told the population more than once: you will be glad more than once that the Coca-Cola plant is located directly in our community,” says Oleksandr Kutsenko.

Bohdanivka is a relatively large village. Before the full-scale invasion, about 3 thousand people lived here. A preschool has been operating in the village for many years. In fact, the kindergarten served 85 children. The kindergarten was supported by the local government, funds were allocated to it every year from the local budget, which made it possible to cover all the basic needs of the institution. Life was going on, children went to kindergarten, children, parents and educators were satisfied, the head of the kindergarten, Valentina Vasylivna Keush, recalls the past.

“We took great care of the kindergarten itself and the surrounding area. For many years, the institution was considered one of the best in the area. There were many green spaces that created beauty. We wanted to create all the best conditions for children so that they could understand and be able to to feel the beauty of the nature that surrounds them. Those who graduated often came to the territory of the kindergarten,” says Ms. Valentina.

Then a great war came to the region, and most of the people had to leave. They learned about the events in the village from the fragmentary reports of fellow villagers. Which remained in the occupation. In the evening of March 29, 2022, the residents received a terrible message that the kindergarten was destroyed.

“After reconstruction, it will be one of the best kindergartens in the Kyiv region. In the process of approving the project, state building regulations were changing in the country, and in the end we managed to agree on a project that will meet all the requirements. According to the project, it provides shelter, and this will allow taking care of the children and teachers. Shelter in the kindergarten will occupy more than 600 square meters. The building will be two-story and will have an elevator,” Oleksandr Kutsenko shares the plans.

Currently, the employees of the State Emergency Service are carrying out their work on the site of the future kindergarten, because it is important to clear the territory of explosive objects.

“Completion of construction works is planned for 2025. We hope that the children will resume kindergarten classes by the fall of 2025,” Kutsenko summarizes.

By the way, along with humanitarian aid, Coca-Cola shares positive emotions with Ukrainians. For example, at the end of 2023, the plant produced a special charity batch of 1,000,000 bottles of the Coca-Cola drink, which were distributed to Ukrainians who are currently living in very difficult circumstances throughout the country, in order to give them pleasant moments during the winter holidays. This achievement was registered in the National Register of Records of Ukraine.