Our support to Ukraine
Tetra Pak condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we stand with all those affected by the violence, and we support calls for an immediate ceasefire and for Ukraine to remain a sovereign and democratic state. This has not changed since the start of the war and remains true today.
Our priority has been the safety of our employees and their families whom we try to support both practically and financially. We are also doing our outmost to support our customers in Ukraine to continue their operations to safeguard supply of food to the people. In addition, we are working with multiple humanitarian aid organisations to assist people in Ukraine and refugees in neighbouring countries.
Supporting humanitarian relief efforts
Tetra Laval, the group which consists of Tetra Pak, Sidel and De Laval, has donated in total EUR 20 million towards humanitarian support for people in Ukraine and those who have been forced to move to neighbouring countries due to the war. The donation included power and heat generators to a value of EUR 10 million as well as humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine. The equipment, including more than 200 generators, was donated directly to Ukrainian authorities for onward distribution to the areas worst affected by the lack of power in the country.
We work with several humanitarian organisations to support relief efforts and secure the distribution of essential supplies to those impacted. Our partner aid organisations include UNICEF, Save The Children, The Red Cross and Doctor's Without Borders.
The humanitarian support includes EUR 1 million to UNICEF and its partners, who are working to reach children in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. Some of their activities include:
- Delivery of medical supplies to hospitals in Ukraine improving access to healthcare for mothers, newborns and children
- Distribution of water and hygiene items to communities under siege
- Increasing the number of mobile child protection teams working inside acute conflict zones and delivering lifesaving supplies to help support the needs of children
- The creation of one-stop safe spaces called Blue Dots for the protection of women and children, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), governments and civil society organisations
Our donations to Save the Children are also being used in various ways. As an example, the aid agency is providing cash assistance and setting up child-friendly spaces where children can play and recover from what they have experienced.
The remaining amount has been allocated across different aid agencies and local customers to help distribute safe food to those in Ukraine as well as refugees in neighbouring countries. This includes support for the Red Cross with the provision of packaged drinks for refugees, with supplies coming from customers in Poland and Moldova, as well as supporting our customers with the production and distribution of food directly in Ukraine, including more than 950,000 packs of milk.
Helping our customers maintain food supplies in Ukraine
The war has significantly impacted logistics and our customers’ ability to operate within Ukraine, making it difficult to make food safely available to Ukrainians. Despite the challenges, we are doing our utmost to support Ukrainian customers to continue operations by providing packaging material, spare parts and services, while ensuring the safety of our employees as the utmost priority. Packaging material delivery has been re-arranged from other converting factories outside the region, and we are constantly looking at alternative ways to continue supplying our products and services to our customers.
Supporting our employees and their families in Ukraine
The safety of our employees and their families remains our priority. We are maintaining communication with them, coordinating directly between Ukrainian colleagues and our global response team.
We are also providing temporary financial assistance, including for accommodation, food and/or daily expenses for employees and their families (including partners, children, and parents) who have managed to move to other European countries, as well as access to information on accommodation and schooling provided by the governments in those other European countries.
An additional Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) has also been set up to provide Tetra Pak employees and family members with counselling services, resources and information on personal and work-related issues – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Employee support from neighbouring countries
Many of our employees, especially in neighbouring countries have gone above and beyond to organise donation collections for the support of local aid. Local aid has been distributed to agencies including Polish Humanitarian Action, the Polish and Hungarian Red Cross, and the Voivodeship humanitarian aid programme for Ukrainian refugees, amongst others. This aid has been used so far to provide essential food, hygiene products, medical supplies, and textiles such as blankets and sleeping bags.
Our thoughts are with the millions of people suffering as a result of the war and we hope for peace to prevail in the region.