Estonia is donating to Ukraine in record amounts

War in Ukraine for Estonians and Baltics alike has been shocking, but not surprising. Since the countries share a similar past and therefore a similar drive to keep their freedom the need for help is well received and delivered upon. According to Nordstat, more than half of households in Estonia have donated money to Ukrainian causes. 

In addition to monetary donations, Estonia was one of the first also to donate military equipment ranging from anti-armor weapons to artillery. Volunteer groups have also bought, donated, and delivered a large number of SUVs that were requested by the Ukrainians to aid with the defense efforts.  

According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, per GDP, Estonia has donated far more to Ukraine than any other nation, including the US, the UK, or other larger European economies. Back in April, it was estimated that Estonia has donated €220 million, considering the country’s population, it is the largest donor per capita. 

Cooperation with chambers of commerce in Ukraine 
On the 27th of February, The National Defence Promotion Foundation (founded by the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Defence back in 2004) with the Estonian Reserve Officers' Association started a charity campaign to support purchasing and sending medical equipment and supplies to Ukraine to quickly support treatment of the wounded. With a long-term plan to aid the treatment of wounded in Estonia or other allied counties. 

By the 12th of May, the donation campaign has successfully raised slightly over 2 million euros of which 1 million has already been used to directly offer aid to Ukrainian hospitals.  

Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as the campaign runner has direct contact with Ukrainian regional chambers to offer the quickest and most needed aid directly to the source. So far ECCI has delivered 2 direct aid shipments to the border of Poland and Ukraine where the shipments of medical equipment were handed over to Chernihiv and Dnipro chambers of commerce respectively. The Ukrainian chambers then delivered the supplies to their local hospitals and to the front lines.  

Some of the different activities in support of Ukraine have been as follows: 

• The campaign has supported the purchase and delivery of 12 fully equipped ambulances to Ukraine. 

• Campaign supported the psychologists who met the refugees and provided them crisis assistance with a variety of tools and supplies on weekly basis. The focus of psychological help is on children, for whom prompt and professional support is extremely important to prevent later deeper mental health problems. 

• On March 18, 2022, a consignment of essential medicines worth EUR 200,000 was sent in cooperation with companies. 

• Together with entrepreneurs, ECCI has assembled 9,000 medical packages, which have now been delivered to Ukraine. In addition, we are currently working to complete an additional 4,500 first aid kits. 

• The campaign has supported the establishment of the DocuMental mental health support program for war victims. 

• The campaign has funded the children’s mental health support program Triumf Hero development, so it would be available free of charge in Ukrainian. 

• Together with the Tallinn Children's Hospital Support Fund, Campaign has supported the purchase of two respirators for the Kyiv Children's Hospital. 

There is constant communication between different voluntary organizations and ministries to procure various tools and plan further activities. Since the situation in Ukraine is also constantly changing, ECCI and the campaign will respond accordingly by providing assistance. 

You can read more about The National Defence Promotion Foundations campaign from here: Donate to help provide medical aid to those wounded in the war in Ukraine | Eesti Kaubandus-Tööstuskoda