Not a single penny of the funds for the reconstruction of Okhmatdyt was spent: Ministry of Health
The Ministry of Health of Ukraine stated that the funds collected for the restoration of the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, which was damaged by a Russian missile strike, remain completely intact. Not a single penny of these funds was spent, as the ministry reported on August 20.
“Okhmatdit 2.0 will be even more modern and able to save even more children’s lives. We sincerely thank everyone who contributed – people, businesses, governments, organizations. Now we want to report on the collected amounts and their purpose.”, – it is said in messages Ministry of Health on Facebook.
As of today, the total amount of funds collected for the restoration of Okhmatdyt is about 1.6 billion hryvnias, of which more than 400 million will be used for the purchase of medical equipment.
The Ministry of Health clarified that all donations are kept in separate accounts under the control of various institutions, and at this time no funds from these accounts have been spent.
The scandal surrounding the Okhmatdyt charity fund
Earlier, the former general director of NDSL Okhmatdyt Volodymyr Zhovnir said that the charitable foundation “Okhmatdyt — Healthy Childhood” does not plan to transfer 378 million hryvnias collected after the missile strike to the hospital’s account.
In response, the charitable foundation held a general meeting on August 15, where it said it was ready to pay for any urgent needs of the hospital, including the purchase of medical equipment or the restoration of damaged buildings. At the same time, the foundation emphasized that Okhmatdyt Hospital did not submit any official request regarding the intended use of these funds.
On August 16, the administration of Okhmatdyt announced that it would turn to law enforcement agencies due to the refusal of the “Okhmatdyt — Healthy Childhood” foundation to transfer funds for the reconstruction of the hospital. On August 17, Volodymyr Zhovnir was suspended from performing his duties pending the completion of inspections conducted by law enforcement agencies and the Ministry of Health commission.
