Dear Friends,
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!

Thank you so much to all of you for joining us today! Today the Foundation for Development of Ukraine becomes a personal foundation, and this is important both for me and the Foundation. I want to tell you why I've made this decision, what are my role and my charity philosophy.

I like very much the words: "Charity speaks quietly". That's why I quietly reached in my pocket and helped those in need. That was my approach, my first stage of charity. But, unfortunately, we have systematic problems in our country. And no one can address them in a quiet voice. We should speak about them, sometimes very loudly, sometimes shout if we are not heard.

I strongly believe that only a systematic approach can prevail over those systematic problems. For this reason SCM established its Corporate Foundation for Development of Ukraine in 2005. That was my second stage of charity – the stage of corporate social responsibility.

And today right at this moment, my third stage of charity starts – a stage of my own personal responsibility. Why have I come to this decision? It's because I know I will always do charity.

And now, my dear friends, I want to tell you about my role. My role covers three elements – setting philosophy of the Foundation, creating a team that shares my philosophy, and providing stable funding.

What is my philosophy of charity? Charity means feeling the pain of others. Charity means sharing the pain of others. Charity means a systematic fight against systematic problems. Charity means commitment to achieving results. Charity means openness.

What does it mean to create a team that shares this philosophy? These people must have hearts to feel pain of others as their own. These people must have eyes and a good sight to see systematic problems. These people must have heads, that is knowledge and experience, to tackle the problems. These people must not pretend to be working but work really hard for everyone to feel our support. And all our team must be open – open to the public, open to the media, as well as open for new ideas and partnership.

As to funding, I have allocated $150m to finance Foundation's projects and programs over the next five years.

Dear friends! We all do charity as much as we can. We all think how to do it better. And, in my view, this is the most important question for all of us. I believe that by consolidating our efforts we will combat all challenges on our way. Thank you for your attention.