The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to more than 9 million people fleeing the country in the period up to November 2022 – most of them women and children. More than half of these refugees were received by neighbouring Poland. Citizens and organisations alike adapted to the situation swiftly and straightforwardly, providing accommodation, collecting donations, setting up initiatives and organising many different types of help.
WARTA, HDI International AG’s Polish subsidiary, also joinedin this work. Immediately after the war began it set up a relief fund endowed with roughly EUR 2 million. This was followed by a second fund with roughly EUR 200,000, which supports internal staff initiatives that help Ukrainian refugees.
Employees volunteered in their spare time, donated money of their own, collected basic necessities and provided accommodation. In addition, WARTA launched a “refugee employment programme” to help new arrivals transition to a new normal.
To date, 26 people have found permanent employment for an unlimited period under the scheme. They work mainly in customer support, but also in IT, project management and finance.