Okhmatdyt CEO Volodymyr Zhovnir said that the Okhmatdyt - Healthy Childhood Charitable Foundation, which has raised more than UAH 370 million to restore the hospital, does not plan to transfer funds to the account of the Okhmatdyt National Specialized Hospital. The foundation responded to the accusations and explained the reason, UNN reports.
"In the morning we learned that the Charitable Foundation "Okhmatdyt - Healthy Childhood" does not plan to transfer funds to the account of the NDSL "Okhmatdyt". That is, as of August 16, 2024, UAH 378 million remain on the account of the Charitable Foundation "Okhmatdyt - Healthy Childhood", Zhovnir said.
In his opinion, neither the NDSL nor the foundation called Okhmatdyt have the right to let Ukrainian society down.
Zhovnir noted that there is not a single NSDL employee among the fund's members.
"I am once again, now publicly, demanding that the Foundation transfer the funds received to all bank and financial accounts of the Charitable Organization "Charitable Foundation ‘Okhmatdyt - Healthy Childhood’ in the form of charitable assistance for the restoration of the destroyed buildings and material and technical base of the National Children's Hospital ‘Okhmatdyt’ of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine after the missile attack on 08.07.2024 to the Treasury account of the National Children's Hospital ‘Okhmatdyt’, Zhovnir wrote.
He also said that the hospital is considering terminating its legal relationship with the foundation because their actions, in his words, are unfair and probably fraudulent.
"We will move in the legal plane regarding the funds raised for the hospital. The staff of the National Children's Hospital "Okhmatdyt" will do everything possible to restore the hospital's buildings before the rains and frosts come to Ukraine," Zhovnir said.
Position of the Okhmatdyt - Healthy Childhood Charitable Foundation
Commenting on Zhovnir's accusations, the head of the Okhmatdyt - Healthy Childhood Charitable Foundation, Yevhen Vember, said that the Foundation had not received any letter requesting to transfer funds to the account of the Okhmatdyt National Children's Hospital with the appropriate designation.
"All the funds raised for the restoration of Okhmatdyt after July 8 remain on the account of the Okhmatdyt - Healthy Childhood Foundation. The foundation is ready to pay for any urgent need of the hospital: medical equipment or restoration of buildings damaged by the Russian attack. However, we have not received a single letter from the Okhmatdyt hospital about any such targeted need," Vember said on Facebook.
According to him, the foundation is allegedly under pressure.
"We have received a letter from the National Police of Ukraine about conducting a pre-trial investigation and demanding copies of documents. We are under pressure to transfer funds to the hospital's treasury accounts. We are already doing it now," Vember wrote.
In addition, he claims that the Ministry of Health refers to Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On Charity and Charitable Organizations" in its demands.
"However, this article of the law does not provide for a legal mechanism for transferring funds raised by a charity to any state or other accounts without any grounds. If we comply with the request of the Ministry of Health to transfer the funds, we will be grossly violating the law. We are applying to specialized institutions for a legal opinion on the application of Article 5 of the Law on Charity and Charitable Organizations," said Vember.
The Foundation asks to provide legal grounds for transferring funds to treasury accounts without a purpose, as this may now entail criminal liability.
Context
The Ministry of Health announced that it is canceling tenders for engineering and consulting services and technical supervision of the repair of Okhmatdyt for UAH 14 million. This is due to a new tender for the current repairs and interior decoration of the complex.
Against the backdrop of canceled tenders, the Ministry of Health decided to create a Council to oversee the restoration of the destroyed buildings of the National Children's Specialized Hospital "Okhmatdyt".