Eni staff step in to help with Ukraine humanitarian emergency

Staff and management at Eni have stepped in to make individual contributions to support the humanitarian emergency caused by the war in Ukraine, the Italian energy giant said on Wednesday.

“Italy and the world are witnessing the escalation of the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine. In just two weeks, it has forced 2 million people to flee to neighbouring countries or other countries in Europe,” Eni said in a statement.

“A fundraising initiative has been launched in collaboration with the Italian Red Cross, which together with numerous associations is tirelessly providing a response to the continuous requests for concrete help from Ukraine. Concrete aid is arriving from Italy, lorries loaded with food, blankets, medicines and camp tents for refugees, while volunteers are working to provide assistance to the most vulnerable groups in the population, including thousands of girls and boys,” it added.

The initiative allows every person at Eni, in Italy and abroad through its subsidiaries, to donate an hour or more of their work, the company said. Eni will double the hours donated and provide them to the Red Cross to tackle the emergency. “This small, shared gesture aims to express solidarity with the people of Ukraine, so terribly affected by the current conflict,” Eni said.

Earlier this month, the Italian oil and gas producer joined global energy companies in announcing its plan to sell its stake in a Gazprom-operated pipeline. The Blue Stream gas pipeline transports Russian-sourced gas to Turkey via the Black Sea.

Eni said that its joint ventures with Russian state-controlled Rosneft had been frozen since 2014 — the year Russia unilaterally absorbed Crimea from Ukraine. “The current presence of Eni in Russia is marginal,” an Eni spokesperson told Reuters.