18 July 2013 // Press centre Metinvest Group
Metinvest Group increased financing of its “We Improve the City” program by 25% to UAH 4.5 million in 2013. Metinvest, together with the project initiators, has attracted more than UAH 8 million to develop the cities where it operates.
The number of participants in the “We Improve the City” program increased again this year. Four-hundred and eighty applications were received from non-governmental organizations, municipal institutions and city residents. Ninety-five of the projects were selected for implementation, most of which focus on promoting healthy lifestyles and promoting sports for children and youth. City residents were interested in improving recreational areas, and in environmental, cultural and creative projects.
This year, for the first time, program participants received training in social project design and management skills. A total of 510 residents of cities where Metinvest operates took part in the trainings. The project’s geographic reach also expanded: Zaporizhya, Makiivka, and Petrovske (Kirovohrad region) joined Avdiivka, Yenakiieve, Mariupol, Khartsyzsk, Komsomolsk, Novhorod, Krasnodon and Kriviy Rih.
The winning projects were selected by an expert council, which consisted of representatives of local communities, businesses and organizations, and leading experts in sustainable development. Every winning project will receive between UAH 15,000 and UAH 100,000 from Metinvest to implement their projects. All of the projects will be implemented before the end of 2013.
The list of winning projects is available on the Metinvest website:
http://www.metinvestholding.com/en/csr/community/corp_programs.
- For editors:
The "We Improve the City" program has been implemented by the Company since 2011. The objective of the program is to increase the social engagement of local citizens, and to support the implementation of topical projects to improve living standards in the cities where Metinvest operates. The program consists of a contest of innovative and socially important projects and subsequent financing of winning projects. Initiative groups and organizations develop the target problems to be addressed themselves, support the relevance of the issue to the city and propose a solution. The program has become more popular every year. A pilot program took place in two cities in 2011, and expanded to three regions of Ukraine in 2011, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Luhansk. In 2012, 297 applications were submitted for the contest; the Company financed 61 social projects, allocating a total amount of about UAH 3.5 million. Implemented projects included creation of a water city in the Yelenovka settlement (Donetsk region); full reconstruction of a playground in Leporsky Park in Mariupol; installation of modern sporting facilities and children's playgrounds in Kriviy Rih, Krasnodon and Avdiivka; establishment of a nature trail in Khartsyzsk; and dozens of other socially important initiatives. An important addition to program in 2013 is the training of program participants in basic social project design and management. This development will contribute both to improving the quality and the implementation of winning projects, and to the development of a social project culture in cities where Metinvest operates.
More details about the program can be found on Metinvest's website in the Corporate Social Programs section: http://www.metinvestholding.com/en/csr/community/corp_programs.