6 Months of Emergency Relief in Ukraine

Christina Gama
Christina Gama
August 24, 2022 • 6 minutes

Today marks 6 months since the war began in Ukraine. It has caused the destruction of many Ukrainian cities, the displacement of more than 6.3 million people, and wanton loss of life. The road back to normalcy for millions will be long and indeed, filled with many challenges. 

While the Ukrainian people continue to defend their neighbours, their homes, and their livelihood, we at Glovo stand with them through tangible actions that have a positive impact, aiding to mitigate the negative effects of the war. 

Following the start of the war, Glovo resumed operations in March 2022 to make essential services available in 35 Ukraine cities. Through the implementation of several initiatives, our objective has been to provide humanitarian support and offer essential logistics to those in need. Via the app, we saw an increase in demand for vital services – from both residents and NGOs – who are unable to access food, medicine, and urgent basic goods. We have also been working closely with partners and local city administrations in our ongoing emergency relief efforts.

Humanitarian Support 

Alona Lakhmaniuk, a Senior Finance Analyst who has been at Glovo for 3 years, is one of our Impact Ambassadors in Ukraine. As a key point person for Glovo Access, the programme that provides NGOs and Social Services any assistance that might be needed to help the most vulnerable people, Alona and her colleagues in Kyiv have helped to make Glovo’s efforts a reality by coordinating with NGOs on the ground. 

After the full-scale invasion, Alona and her Glovo colleagues started their work with Ukrainian Volunteering Service (USV) and SOS Children Villages, among other NGO partnerships. Together with USV, they were able to assist in completing orders for an emergency chatbot, developed by USV, that takes requests for single elderly people in need. Through the use of a Glovo promo code and smart logistics, the team was able to ensure the delivery of grocery and pharmacy items for isolated elderly beneficiaries. Pre-war, Glovo was operating in 39 cities and thanks to USV’s partnership with major Ukrainian postal operators, we’ve been able to pack and send emergency goods to small towns and villages where we don’t currently operate. 

Olena’s Story

The team also worked alongside SOS Children Villages, an international NGO focused on supporting families by providing the free delivery of food and hygiene goods. 

For families like Olena’s, their story began when Olena, together with her husband and daughter, were forced to flee their home in Kramatorsk, Ukraine as Russian rockets and shelling began. They lost their home and all their personal belongings as a result but were able to escape from harm’s way. Left with only each other, the family is currently renting a flat in Kyiv as they await the birth of their second child.

While Olena remains on maternity leave and her husband continues to search for work, the family is in a rather difficult financial situation as they are unable to receive additional assistance from relatives who remained in occupied territories. 

Glovo has collaborated with several other NGOs, including The Red Cross, allowing users and Glovo employees alike to donate food and essential goods to relief efforts directly through the Glovo app. We have helped to raise more than 300,000€ (162,000€ raised from users through the app and 150,000€ donated by Glovo) since the launch of the initiative in March 2022. 

MFCs Turned Crisis Centres

Supplies being prepared for delivery at a Glovo Micro Fulfilment Center in Kyiv

 

“In the first days of the war,” remembers Glovo MFC Launcher Oleksii Bush, ”I realised that we cannot stand aside and must help people. I thought that by using the resources of our MFC (Micro Fulfilment Centers), we could help our defenders and people who need food, water, and hygiene products.¨

 

Recipients of delivered food, water, and supplies from Glovo MFC

 

Oleksii and his team have worked hard to focus their efforts on targeted assistance. While being faced with the added challenge of logistics for both MFCs and partner restaurants, he recalls that “ it was necessary to deliver assistance in between shelling, through a lot of checkpoints.¨ By providing a platform for local businesses to reach more customers and solve their logistical challenges, Glovo has been able to aid with local recovery efforts directly on the ground. 

Partner aid through Glovo Acts

In July 2022, we launched Glovo Acts, a program aimed at supporting the recovery and growth of the Ukrainian economy.

The three main pillars that form the foundation of Glovo Acts:

  • We support local SMEs by providing access to our platform and new customers as well as logistical support by offering a 1% concession fee on all orders.
  • We help the Ukrainian people rebuild their cities by helping them develop transport infrastructure, such as bicycle parking spaces, and promoting road safety.
  • We expand our humanitarian support efforts through Glovo Access to help people in need and provide promo codes for free delivery to local charity projects and organisations.

In Ukraine, we’ve seen more small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) than ever before joining our app, having an active partner network of more than 7,000 partner stores and restaurants – a number that is almost at the same level as it was prior to the war. To reaffirm our commitment in the country, we also signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with 4 cities (Chernihiv, Stryi, Lviv, Kyiv) that includes a suspension of commissions for SMEs (internally displaced businesses too) when joining our platform as well as free deliveries to the cities for social and humanitarian purposes, as pictured above. We have also guaranteed a series of initiatives to support and ensure the safety of Glovo employees and Couriers who are still active in the country.

“Thanks to the help of partners,” says Oleskii, “our delivery, and through our joint efforts, we managed to organise meals for hundreds of people. Glovo and Glovo People support Ukraine and give easy access to anything in their city despite the war!¨ 

 

More about our story in Ukraine

Glovo, the multi-category app, has been operating in Ukraine since October 2018. During this time, residents of 39 cities started using the service, more than 10,000 connected couriers delivered at least one order, and more than 7,000 partner locations were present on the platform. Ukraine has been among the top markets for Glovo, and the Ukrainian office team represented the centre of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. In 2021, the company opened a technological hub in Kyiv to improve and adapt the Glovo platform to the local needs of the market and other countries in the region.