(Reuters) – Businesses across Europe and the United States have begun offering aid to Ukrainian authorities and people fleeing war following a Russian invasion, with hundreds of thousands fleeing their homes and heading to safety in Poland and other neighboring countries.
Below are a few companies that have since offered to help. Expect more to come in the coming days.
ENERGY
TotalEnergies said on Tuesday it would supply fuel to Ukrainian authorities and aid refugees in Europe, but did not join rivals Shell and BP in plans to pull out of oil-rich Russia.
THE INTERNET
More than a dozen telecom providers offer free international calls to Ukraine or waive roaming charges there.
Companies such as A1 Telekom Austria Group, Altice Portugal, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Proximus, Swisscom, Telefonica, Telenor, Telia Company, TIM, KPN, Vivacom and Vodafone have taken measures.
FOOD
Biedronka, Poland’s largest food retailer, said it will hire family members of its 1,800 Ukrainian employees, each of whom will receive a grant of 1,000 zlotys ($233). It also committed to allocating 1.2 million US dollars to deliver basic food, hygiene and cleaning products to refugees.
The supermarket chain, owned by Portugal’s Jeronimo Martins, also said on Tuesday it would withdraw products made in Russia and Belarus, including Beluga and Russian Standard vodka.
ACCOMMODATION
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said Monday that the rental company is working with its hosts to house up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees for free.
Polish hotel chain Arche Hotels said on Saturday it had already housed 1,000 refugees, with plans to accommodate 5,000, while in Lublin, 100 km (62 miles) from the border, bed linen, clothes, Polish books and toys were collected for fleeing children. Ukraine.
Nordic Choice, one of the largest hostel groups in Scandinavia, said that its hotel in Vilnius will provide free accommodation.
HEALTH PROTECTION
Private provider LuxMed said it was providing free medical care to people from Ukraine, with doctors and paramedics working near the border, as did Sweden’s Medicover, which said it had opened a Ukrainian-language helpline.
Nivique, a Gdańsk-based women’s health clinic, provided free gynecological services to refugees.
TRAINS
Poland’s PKP Intercity said on Saturday that its trains would carry Ukrainian citizens from the border for free, while Deutsche Bahn is offering holders of Ukrainian passports or ID cards free long-distance trains from Poland to Germany.
BUSES
Flixbus said it had given out 1,000 free tickets in the first 15 hours since it launched the service on Sunday, and that it would send 40 free bus routes to the Ukrainian-Polish border from Przemyśl, near the main border. Medyka crossing.
CARS
Panek CarSharing, a company that rents cars and vans across Poland, said on Friday that it was donating 1,000 cars to transport them to the border with Ukraine, and called on volunteers without cars to volunteer to help.
Bolt told Reuters on Tuesday that he would donate 5% of the revenue from his ride-hailing, grocery delivery and other businesses in Europe over the next two weeks to humanitarian aid. The Estonian company also pledged to pay for the relocation of 100 workers working in Ukraine, should they choose to do so.
LOGISTICS
Trans.EU on Sunday pledged nearly $500,000 in aid to Ukrainians and said it was organizing a network of carriers to bring goods from Western Europe to Ukraine.
The CEO of InPost, a Polish parcel vending machine company, said it will use part of its fleet and drivers to transport aid packages collected by Polish communities to Ukraine.
($1 = 4.2888 zlotys)
(Reporting by Sarah Morland, Marie Mannes, Martos Frackowiak and Federica Mileo Editing by William Maclean)
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