Changes in humanitarian aid importation will affect military - volunteer

Natalia Lipska, a volunteer and head of the Wings of Hope Charitable Foundation, said this in a comment to Espreso. 

On December 1, Cabinet of Ministers Resolution 953 will come into force, changing the import of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The document introduces an electronic system of aid accounting. The changes will mostly affect charitable foundations and public organizations. Volunteers are asking not to implement the resolution from December 1, as the amount of aid may be significantly reduced. The day before, NGOs published an appeal to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"We are now using the 174th resolution," says Lipska. "It was adopted at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and simplified the import of aid into the country as much as possible. Thanks to this document, we were able to bring in a large amount of aid from foreign organizations. For example, in 2022, the state did not purchase a single drone for the military, everything that was at the front was thanks to volunteers. The story is the same with helmets and tactical gear. And now, if the resolution goes into effect, the military will suffer the most from it. Because we will not be able to bring in cars, and there will be problems with tactical medicine. The aid for soldiers will be reduced by 80%. In general, the aid will be reduced by almost half. And these are my optimistic forecasts.”

According to Natalia Lipska, on December 1, an electronic system will be introduced where legal entities, such as foundations or military units, will have to register. They can be recipients of humanitarian aid. On November 1, the foundations were allowed to test the program, and problems have already been found in it.

"Only a legal entity can log in to the system. For example, the director of a foundation or the commander of a military unit," explains Natalia Lipska. “Only the head has an electronic key. And all cargo must be entered into this system. Can you imagine a commander whose brigade is fighting at the front, and he sits and fills out declarations? And only managers will be able to enter these cargoes into the system. Moreover, many organizations simply cannot enter the system. Foreign organizations will not be able to work in Ukraine. Some philanthropists from abroad are already saying that we would rather help other countries.”

Natalia Lipska emphasizes that volunteers started talking about the problems that may arise after Resolution number 953 comes into force in the spring of this year. There were meetings with representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Social Policy. Civil society organizations and charitable foundations submitted their amendments, but so far nothing has been accepted from the volunteers.

"I spent half a year of my life negotiating, but none of our proposals were taken into account," emphasizes Lipska. "We waited until the last minute, thinking that something would change because we were promised that everything would be done. But there are two weeks left until December 1, and we realize that it is impossible to change anything during this time. Therefore, there are two options: to bend the charitable foundations over the knee and leave it as it is, or to listen, refine it, extend the previous version for a few more months, and work with the system in test mode for now. Personally, I don't mind the electronic system, it will even be convenient for me, but it should be done carefully and not in the most difficult period. Because with such changes, people may not survive the winter.”

• Starting December 1, everyone who wants to receive humanitarian aid must register in the electronic system.
• If the changes go into effect, there will be a problem, in particular, with the import of cars into Ukraine.
• Civil society organizations have appealed to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to amend the new rules for the import of humanitarian aid.