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53 (148) 2022

Corporate social responsibility

Ukraine – how we help in BNP Paribas Bank Polska

By BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A.
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We can, so we help

We are helping! Our bank and all of us. We offer what we can: transport, accommodation, financial support, in-kind gifts and, above all, our hearts. We support our Ukrainian employees, contractors, clients and our colleagues at our sister bank, Ukrsibbank*.  Whenever possible, we rush to help all those who need it. We make sure that our actions are well coordinated and targeted, so that the help reaches where it’s needed and in the right form.

Together with the BNP Paribas Foundation we have created a Solidarity Fund. The money raised will go firstly to transport, food, accommodation, paperwork and other basic needs. In the long term, we will help to find jobs, provide education and integrate. We made it easier to support Ukrainians through the functionality of quick transfers (from an account at Bank BNP Paribas or via BLIK) to the Solidarity Fund and the possibility of easy transfer from the Mam Bonus program.

We have launched a 24-hour hotline staffed by Ukrainian volunteers from our bank. It is intended to help Ukrainians – families of our employees and employees of our sister bank from Ukraine. The helpline provides them with information on transport from any point of the border and on available accommodation.

The bank has also provided financial support to our Ukrainian staff as well as granted them an additional three days’ paid leave to help bring their families to Poland.

The bank's training centre in Leszno and ten other locations in Poland have been converted into accommodation. The first refugees arrived there in February. So far, almost 1,000 people have found shelter there. They are provided with free accommodation and food as well as medical and psychological support. Refugees in Leszno were visited by Przemek Gdanski, CEO and president of the management board at BNP Paribas Bank Polska, and Francois Benaroya, deputy head of International Retail Banking at BNP Paribas.

BNP Paribas employees are involved in individual voluntary initiatives but also can take part in a grant programme launched by BNP Paribas Foundation Wolontariat #RazemdlaUkrainy. Volunteers can receive up to 4,000 złotys for a social project which helps refugees to assimilate in Poland. Every full-time employee has an additional two days off for volunteering to help the Ukrainians

In BNP Paribas Bank Polska everybody can help

We have prepared a special section in our internal website Echonet where all employees can find information on supporting and all needed information regarding our activities towards Ukrainian employees and clients. We publish there also other information such as that relating to cybersecurity.

Employees can report the possibility of providing private flats and rooms as well as the desire to transport people from the border to a specified place in Poland. We have also compiled a list of people who can help with language assistance.

We recognise that the current situation raises many emotions. Most of us feel tension, irritation and even fear. That’s why bank has organised a webinar How to give support and care for mental health in the face of the war in Ukraine as well as providing on-going consultations with psychologists (also in Ukrainian). We are attentive to what is happening. We appreciate our employees’ commitment to Ukraine, but do not forget that among our employees in Poland are people of different nationalities, including Russians and Belarusians.

Our Ukrainian customers can rely on us

We have prepared simpler process of opening an account in a branch of BNP Paribas in Poland. Now all we need is only an identity document (either biometric Ukrainian ID card, passport or Temporary Foreigner's Identity Certificate), Ukrainian tax identification number and a Polish phone number.

We have also set:

  • free withdrawals from all cash machines in the country
  • free deposits and withdrawals in bank branches nationwide
  • no fee for transfers to Ukraine (reimbursement within maximum two working days)

Together we can do a lot and we have already shown that we can!

*Ukrsibbank is 59.99% owned by BNP Paribas and 40% owned by EBRD, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.


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