OREANDA-NEWS. December 13, 2012. During the official press-conference in Kyiv on December 11, 2012, PJSC “Ukrsotsbank” which operates under the UniCredit Bank trade mark, UniCredit Foundation and East Europe Foundation made a public presentation of four joint social projects: community center for the elderly in Zhovtneve village, promotion of healthy lifestyle among the students of vocational technical schools in the towns of Zhytomyr and Berdychiv, better-quality education for vulnerable youth in the town of Uman, social inclusion of youth with disabilities by piloting vocational and income-generation activities in the town of Pyryatyn.

Social programs presented by the organizations are aimed at providing aid to vulnerable groups in the process of social integration and at community development in Ukraine. Charitable projects focused on such vulnerable categories of local citizens as the elderly and youth who live in small towns of Zhytomyr, Poltava and Cherkasy regions.

Charitable initiatives developed by East Europe Fund in partnership with UniCredit Foundation anticipate realization of the whole range of actions aimed at strengthening access of vulnerable groups of local citizens to ordinary and new social services – aid to the elderly, vocational training and strengthening of life skills for the youth which undergoes difficult living situations, support of labor inclusion of youth with disabilities, promotion of healthy lifestyle among the students of vocational technical schools, organization of multifunctional seminars for people with disabilities. Each project will be implemented along with the involvement of local NGOs.

Maurizio Carrara, President of UniCredit Foundation, commented upon the implementation of joint social projects as follows: “It is essential to cooperate with partners organizations that have great experience in the development of projects addressing marginalized communities and vulnerable sectors of society. In particular, the focus on youths allow us to think about the future”.

Victor Liakh, President of East Europe Foundation, added: “EEF believes that business plays an important role in addressing social problems of vulnerable populations. We believe that the new social initiative which we will implement together with the UniCredit Foundation will help improve the quality of life of people in difficult life situation”.

Boris Tymonkin, CEO of PJSC “Ukrsotsbank”, UniCredit Bank™, mentioned: “As a citizen of Ukraine I can’t be indifferent to the challenges nowadays faced by vulnerable and sometimes even abandoned people. I’m pleased to know that charitable Foundation of our UniCredit parent company chose Ukraine for realization of its projects aimed at strengthening and development of community, providing aid to the elderly and youth which have naturally been placed into a group of social risk”.

It is worth mentioning that in the framework of internal project “Your Choice, Your project” staff of PJSC “Ukrsotsbank”, UniCredit Bank™ had a chance to choose one of the four abovementioned projects which, they believe, requires additional financing. According to the results of the internal selection, PJSC “Ukrsotsbank” and UniCredit Foundation allocate additional financing in the amount of €15 000 for ”Social inclusion of youth with disabilities by piloting vocational and income-generation activities in the town of Pyryatyn” project which was supported by the majority of staff of the financial institution.