Ukraine: Bayer fully committed to support rebuilding plan and food security
More than 5 months have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine. Bayer has been supporting Ukraine in many ways, including donations and humanitarian relief - and will continue to do so.
We are fully committed to Ukraine´s future through investing in the country and supporting President Zelensky’s rebuilding plan – called United24. We aim to continue making significant investments in the country over the next decade – mainly to rebuild Ukraine´s agricultural system. This will also positively impact global food security, by enabling Ukraine´s farmers to plant and harvest their produce.
As a start, to cover the corn seed demand in Ukraine and beyond, Bayer will invest more than 30 million Euros from 2022 onwards in the Puchuyki seed plant. This investment includes raising the capacity of our seeds dryer, extra field equipment, additional storage facilities – and new employment opportunities in the region.
Bayer also continues to support Ukraine in the areas of health, education and humanitarian relief. We have donated a total of over 10 million EUR so far. This includes establishing a disaster relief fund and product donations, including antibiotics and oncology therapeutics. We will also support the rebuilding of Ukraine´s hospital and public health infrastructure.
Bayer´s employees donated more than 1 million EUR through a Red Cross relief campaign, which Bayer has matched. The matching supports the procurement of several ambulances and defibrillators for Ukraine and the set-up of a mobile medical aid center serving Ukrainian refugees in Poland. In addition, Bayer has donated more than 40,000 bags of seeds to grow food on nearly 30,000 hectares. The seeds will support 1,250 small farmers in Ukraine who have difficulty accessing input for the 2022 growing season.
Helping prevent what could become an unprecedented food crisis
As a direct response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Bayer stopped all spending in Russia and Belarus not related to supplying essential products in health and agriculture. This means we have stopped delivering non-essential products, all advertising and other promotional activities, halted capital investments indefinitely, and are not pursuing new business opportunities in those countries.
At the same time Bayer is fully committed to helping prevent what could become an unprecedented food crisis. We share the view of the UN that global access to Ukraine’s food products and Russian food and fertilizers is essential to alleviate pressure on the global food system. In line with this, we have decided to continue supplying Russian farmers with essential agricultural products to ensure they can contribute to fulfilling the global demand. At the same time, we hope the Russian government continues to safeguard the free flow of agricultural products and never again use food as a means of pressuring the world.
Through our commitments, we act in the spirit of the UN, the G7 and the European Union calling for ensuring global food supply and access to healthcare.
At Bayer, we do everything in our power to reduce the suffering caused by this terrible war. This is what our vision “Health for all, Hunger for none” calls for. The situation remains volatile, and we will continue to monitor developments and evolve or adjust our response, as necessary.