Citi Ukraine and Yellowblue Force Foundation implemented a medical project on face and bone restoration

In 2024, Citi Ukraine has joined the initiative of the international volunteer organization Yellowblue Force Foundation to implement the emergency respond projects. Citі Ukraine has allocated a grant in the amount of 500 thousand US dollars. The common goal is to provide hospitals with alternative energy sources and provide medical assistance to affected Ukrainians to restore injured bones and faces.

“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the people of Ukraine, including our team, have been going through the most difficult time in our lives. For Citi Ukraine, we felt it was incredibly important to support the community we live and work in as much as possible. We are committed to doing our part and we plan to continue our support in the future," says Alexander McWhorter, Citi Ukraine Country Officer.

"Light for Hospitals"

As part of the grant, three hospitals joined the Light for Hospitals program. In September, solar power plant has been installed at the Chortkiv Central Hospital. The grant will also cover installation of such power plants in Mykolaiv and Khmelnytskyi.

The Chortkiv Central Hospital’s solar power plant has a capacity of 50kW and works in tandem with batteries that store the generated electricity. It will secure energy safety for the facility: during the power outages, patients will continue to receive medical care. The hospital serves around 200 thousand patients annually and have 300 surgeries.

"We extremely appreciate the cooperation with Citi, which supported the humanitarian initiatives of our local organization. Thanks to this cooperation, we were able to provide hospitals not only with alternative energy sources, but also with batteries that guarantee the smooth functioning of medical facilities during power outages. In addition, Citi's support has allowed us to provide critical medical care to medics treating patients with severe injuries caused by the war. This partnership is a great example of how global companies can effectively support local initiatives to achieve truly meaningful results," says Borys Danevych, Co-founder, YBF Leader.

Implants for osteosynthesis and facial reconstruction

The medical direction of cooperation between the Foundation and Citi Ukraine was aimed at comprehensively helping patients from different cities of Ukraine with facial injuries or bone lesions. As part of the project, 50 patients from the Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 4 and the Kharkiv City Hospital received external fixation devices to heal bone injuries. Thanks to these systems doctors were able to perform surgical operations to fix bone fragments after severe injuries to make it easier for patients to move physically.

In addition to ostiosynthesis, the project also included the purchase of vacuum therapy (VAC) kits, negative pressure treatment for wounds that do not heal for a long time. 390 patients who were treated in Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia city hospitals, as well as in Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 4 received VAC-systems for faster wound healing. Another 50 patients in Kyiv and Khmelnytskyi received bone filler kits, which allowed doctors to comprehensively provide assistance in recovery.

Facial reconstruction was also one of the vectors that the experts worked on – 22 patients were operated on during the year. To perform such operations, it was necessary to individually study the patient' s needs in order to make a board for the reconstruction of the face, head or neck. Ukrainian doctors achieved a high level of professionalism in facial reconstructive surgery and shared their knowledge during the III International Symposium in April 2024 in Ivano-Frankivsk.

Since February 2022, Citi and the Citi Foundation have donated more than $4.5 million to support humanitarian initiatives, including rebuilding schools, providing legal and psychological counseling to women, and helping Ukrainian refugees find safe havens in other countries.

About Citi Ukraine

Citi Ukraine is part of Citigroup, one of the four largest U.S. banks by assets. We have been in Ukraine for more than 25 years. Our offer covers all aspects of cash and liquidity management, trading services and finance, treasury services, corporate finance and lending, securities services and services for issuers. We are honored to help unlock the country's economic potential by serving nearly 500 clients, including the public sector, multinational corporations, leading Ukrainian companies, and foreign investors looking to invest in Ukrainian market.

About Yellowblue Force Foundation

Yellowblue Force Foundation (YBF) is an international volunteering organization uniting professionals from the corporate sector, professional services, and technology. Our mission is to help the Ukrainian people to stand resilient and defend the peace and values of the civilized world by engaging the international business community.

A team of 25 people is constantly involved in the work of the Foundation. During 2022-2023, about 70 volunteers supported the initiatives of the Foundation: lawyers, finance experts, management consultants, communicators and journalists, HR and IT specialists, experts in procurement, medicine, engineering, event management, and students.