At the charity evening of the Kyiv School of Economics held on November 19, Ukrainian companies and philanthropists raised $537,934 to support education during the war.

Of these, $266,100 was collected at a charity auction. The rest is the support of the Evening by event partners and institutional support.

Partners of the event: Raiffeisen Bank, Darnytsia Pharmaceutical Company, OTP Bank, Kyivstar, Zagoriy Foundation. Companies consider it an investment in the future of young people and the reconstruction of the country.

Institutional support was provided by: financial group ICU, PUMB, Raiffeisen Bank, co-owner of the private seaport TIS Yehor Hrebiennikov. OTP Leasing has traditionally supported the direction of assistance to defenders of Ukraine.

ICU has made the largest contribution that will go towards creating conditions for students and the development of education. Other significant donations were made by PUMB, the Darnytsia Pharmaceutical Company, and the Smart-Holding industrial and investment group.

The collected funds will allow to pay for the education of 215 students who need partial or full support. Among them are talented youth, teenagers who were evacuated and lost their homes due to the war, veterans and children of fallen soldiers.

Among the auction lots:

• Enigma Box lot. Secret lot. Purchased by Anna Babych, AEQUO Law Firm;

• lot “From those who conquer Ukraine, for those who will rebuild it.” Artifact from secret intelligence documents, Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine. Purchased by Yuliia Kirianova, Smart-Holding; part of the funds is directed to the support of the  Main Directorate of Intelligence division, and part to scholarships for veterans;

• lot “From those who free us, for the sake of those who have lost their homes.” Sculpture “Will is our weapon”, Security Service of Ukraine. The lot was purchased by Artur Zahorodnykov, PUMB;

• lot “From those who know the price of support, to those who need it.” A bottle of champagne from Crimean grapes of 2013, produced in Bakhmut. The lot was purchased by Mr. Oleh Kalashnikov;

• lot “From the State “in which” and “for which”. Gasanova custom vyshyvanka with the signature of the President of Ukraine. The lot was purchased by Anonymous;

• lot “From those who have achieved success through support and share it.” Ivan Turetskyi’s painting “Looking into the heat, extinguished centuries ago.” The lot was purchased by Kateryna Zagoriy, Zagoriy Foundation;

• lot “For those who protect us”. An exclusive bottle from the Victoire De La Dignité champagne art collection. The lot was purchased by Alina Popereshniuk; part of the funds is directed to the needs of the Main Military Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and part to scholarships for veterans.

The importance of supporting education and human capital in the war was emphasized by representatives of the Government, in particular, First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko and Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleksandr Kamyshin.

The charity evening “Sustaining Ukraine Through Education” is the beginning of the Christmas fundraising campaign of the Kyiv School of Economics, the goal of which is to collect 2 million dollars to support the education of youth affected by the war. The American philanthropist doubles every hryvnia and dollar collected within the campaign. Thus, the total amount after the event was 1 million 76 thousand dollars.

The $2 million will allow KSE to enroll 500-700 new students next year and increase the total number of students to 1,100-1,400 in programs in economics, mathematics, IT, psychology, law, artificial intelligence and more.