During International Economic and Humanitarian Forum Ukrainian ID in Kaniv, the first laureates of the Ukrainian ID Awards have been named by the Board of the Forum. They were: Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian cinema-maker, unduly held in Russia – for unbreakable will for freedom and human dignity; Natalie Jaresko, Executive Director of Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, Former Minister of Finance of Ukraine (2014-2016) – for crisis management of Ukrainian financial domain during the hardest economic and political challenges; Olga Bondarenko, Head of international charitable foundation “Let’s Help” – for major contribution to the humanization of the society.
The awards were given out by Ambassador John Herbst, Director of Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, Roman Washchuk, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Ukraine, Alexa Chopivsky, Executive Director of the American Center for a European Ukraine and Nataliia Zabolotna, President of the International Economic and Humanitarian Forum Ukrainian ID.
“Ukrainian ID Awards is a distinction awarded for outstanding achievements and efficient practices in the name of well-being and humanization of the mankind, motivating the responsible development of the society. Our laureates, each one in his domain, are investing their time and efforts into making the world a better place. The Organizing Committee of the Forum was greatly astonished by the fact, that some nominees have not been distinguished in Ukraine despite their outstanding contribution to the prosperity of our country. Those are the personalities who set the example of dignity and self-devotion to the society. We have restored the justice and will continue to distinguish the most estimable cases”, – stressed Nataliia Zabolotna, President of the International Economic and Humanitarian Forum Ukrainian ID.
Ukrainian ID Awards is an annual international award founded by the Forum to distinguish those who by their own hands made a great contribution to the development of the humankind while following the principles of humanism, equality and common good. The laureates are chosen among citizens of any country or professional domain as well as organizations (except political ones). They will be chosen by a jury comprising the Organizing Committee members and internationally-recognized experts. The author of the statuette is Serhii Shaulis, a young sculptor from Kharkiv.
Quotes from the ceremony and briefly about the laureates
Olga Bondarenko, Head of international charitable foundation “Let’s Help” is awarded for major contribution to the humanization of the society. The Foundation leaded by her reunites volunteers and philanthropists to create quality-life conditions in Ukrainian retirement homes. Now she is the patron of 50 retirement homes in different regions of Ukraine. In 2017 the Foundation started the program entitled “Dignified Retirement” totaling to 30 million UAH. As of April of this year, more than 4 million were raised and invested into modernization and procurement of the houses for elderly people.
“It is a great honor for me to hold this award, although I’m just a person accepting it. There is my family behind me, who supports me, a lot of volunteers, people who help every day and make their contribution to ease the life of our elderly people. What I’m feeling now is a great joy because during the whole day at the Forum one thought was the silver line – that what matters the most is the human being. I’m convinced that this is the sign of going in the right direction. Yes, children are very important, their dreams, development and education, but we will not be able to preserve the human capital in our country if the people don’t see the prospective of living, including the prospective of dignified ageing”, – commented Olga Bondarenko on her award.
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Natalie Ann Jaresko, Executive Director of Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, Former Minister of Finance of Ukraine (2014-2016) is awarded for the crisis management of Ukrainian financial domain during the hardest economic and political challenges in the history of Ukraine. In the estimation of Ukrainian and international experts, Natalie has efficiently managed the issue of Ukrainian external debt and de-facto saved the country from financial default in conditions of internal instability and military aggression of Russia.
“This person is well-known to all of you, in fact – to anyone in international community who follows what happened in Ukraine, and in particular – the extraordinary reversal of Ukraine’s very difficult economic circumstances four years ago. I’m speaking of course of Natalie Jaresko, unarguably – the most important finance minister in this decade anywhere in the world. I don’t need to outline her achievements, I’ll just say that when Ukrainian economy was on the merge of default, by strong economic measures properly pursued those very difficult circumstances turned around. And while there are many problems that remain with economy, the things could be much worse. And the start of the new Ukraine, at least on the financial side, began when she took over in December of 2014” – underlined Ambassador John Herbst, Director of Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
“Thank you for this honor! I believe that what we have done back then served the salvation of Ukrainian people. Not the salvation of the economy, nor the financial system or the Hryvna, but the salvation of Ukrainian people and his right to live on this sacred land. Accepting this award, I thank for the opportunity to serve the people and I hope that all of us will have this opportunity to serve again”, – noted Natalie Ann Jaresko.
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Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian cinema-maker, writer and screenwriter is a political prisoner of Russia for the fifth year, who became the laureate of the Ukrainian ID Awards for unbreakable will for freedom and human dignity. During his conviction Oleg, as a representative of Ukrainian culture, became a symbol of audacious struggle for freedom for all Ukrainian citizens unduly held in Russia, whose number is estimated in over 70 persons.
“As Canada’s representative in Ukraine, and also on behalf of our government and our Foreign Ministry, we have said, we continue to say, and we’ll remain firm in believing that Oleg Sentsov and all Ukrainian political prisoners being held in Russia should be freed. Free Sentsov!”, – stressed Roman Washchuk, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Ukraine.
“Oleg Sentsov in 2014, May, was unduly arrested in his Crimea and for over four years he’s been held in Russia. Since May 14th of this year he’s been on a hunger strike to help bring attention to his fellow compatriots who are similarly being held unduly in Russia. The Organizing Committee of this event today has asked that we all call on the diaspora around the world to contact your government officials, organize your communities and bring attention to this situation. We are with him, we express our solidarity with him, we hope that he gets word of this event today and that he feels our spirit on his side”, – commented Alexa Chopivsky, Executive Director of the American Center for a European Ukraine.
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The Organizing Committee of the Forum underscores the symbolism of handing this award in Kaniv due to the correlations between Oleg Sentsov and Taras Shevchenko.
“In XIX century Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko had been imprisoned by the authorities of Russian Empire for spiritual opposition to its murderous and inhuman policy. In XXI century Ukrainian cinema-maker is imprisoned by neo-imperialistic government for the same reasons. They both are heroic incarnations of Ukrainian culture: authentic, inspiring and unbowed. And they both are deemed to be eternal symbols of freedom in the souls of Ukrainian people”, – outlines the official statement by the Organizing Committee.
The decision of awarding Oleg Sentsov has been made public a few days before the Forum to raise the pressure on the Russian government to free Sentsov, who continues his hunger strike started on May 14th in the name of freeing all Ukrainian political prisoners held in Russian Federation.
The global flashmob supporting Oleg Sentsov has been started upon the end of awarding ceremony, joined by Ukrainian diaspora all-over the world.
