MK Group is this year celebrating the fifth anniversary of the launch of its internal campaign project Family Support, within the scope of which financial subsidies are awarded to employees who’ve become parents during the course of the current year. This anniversary provided an occasion for MK Group, together with AIK Bank, to expand its internal activities into a large social responsibility project that takes the form of donations to maternity wards throughout the region, thus also directing its support for families towards communities in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The project, which has a total value exceeding 700,000 euros, was launched with the aim of supporting family policies and measures intended to boost birth rates, as well as contributing to improving conditions for pregnant women, mothers and new-borns in maternity wards. It is being implemented with the support of the health ministries of all countries in the region. The previous period saw representatives of MK Group and AIK Bank hold individual meetings with government ministers, which served to select the maternity hospitals to be supported and define the purpose of financial resources.
This led to agreement with Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar on a donation of 100,000 euros for the maternity ward within the Dr Dragiša Mišović Clinical Hospital Centre. Speaking in response to the agreement, Dr Lončar expressed gratitude for the donation, which will ensure the provision of even better conditions for pregnant women in this maternity hospital.
SUBSIDIES FOR BABIES OF MK GROUP EMPLOYEES
Over the course of the previous four years, during which MK Group has been implementing the Family Support project for its employees, a total of more than 31 million dinars has been awarded to 620 families and more than 1,000 children. The “Family Support” campaign also received special recognition from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce & Industry in 2019
“The rise of birth rates and care for the youngest is a strategic goal for Serbia, because children represent our future. That’s why the state is investing extremely large resources in renovating existing hospitals and constructing new ones; we’re renovating paediatric wards, gynaecology and obstetrics clinics, and building Tiršova 2, because we want to create even better conditions for the youngest patients. We are glad that MK Group and AIK Bank will support our healthcare system again this year, this time in the direction of supporting our maternity wards. We agreed on a donation for the gynaecology department of the Dragiša Mišović Clinical Hospital Centre, especially considering that this hospital cares for pregnant women and children who are COVID-19 positive. We’ve also agreed on another important thing: that we’ll invest a dinar of our own for every dinar invested in Serbian healthcare by MK Group and AIK Bank,” stressed Minister Lončar, before noting that MK Group also provided assistance to the healthcare system of the Republic of Serbia last year, including by providing holidays in its hotels for health workers engaged in the COVID-19 system.
Chairman of the Executive Board of AIK Bank Jelena Galić thanked the Serbian Ministry of Health for its support in implementing the donation, saying: “this donation represents the expansion of the Support programme that’s being organised by both AIK Bank and MK Group for their employees who have realised their role as parents during the current year. I believe the moments when life is created are precious not only for every family, but also for the entire nation. Investing in new generations is investing in the future of the region, which is why we want to contribute in this way to improving the conditions under which new life is born. I would like to use this occasion to thank Minister Lončar, who helped us identify the maternity ward that will receive our donation.”
Speaking on the occasion of the launch of this regional project, MK Group Corporate Affairs Director Aleksandra Stojanović noted that MK Group’s CSR activities are on the whole focused on healthcare and care for children and youth. “As a socially responsible company that’s present throughout the region, we direct support to all the communities in which we operate. The focus this time is on future mothers and babies. We have allocated over 700,000 euros for improving conditions in maternity hospitals and Family Support, and thus once again – as a company that employs 6,000 people in the Adriatic region –connected the entire region. “
Donations to maternity wards in Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina and Montenegro:
• Maternity Ward of KBC Dragiša Mišović in Belgrade
• Maternity Ward of UKC Ljubljana
• Maternity Ward of Cetinje General Hospital
• Maternity Ward of Sarajevo General Hospital
• Maternity hospitals in Prijedor and Gradiška
• Maternity hospital in Zagreb
MK Group is continuing its multi-year projects focused on childcare. The parental house of MK Group President Miodrag Kostić in Petrovaradin has been allocated for the use of the Novi Sad-based Institute for Health Protection, Children and Youth of Vojvodina for more than a decade. The company also works continuously to take care of the development and education of young people from the SOS Children’s Village in Kraljevo, while 169 children have been able to remain in the circle of their families thanks to a 60,000-euro donation to the Putokaz Centre in Niš.
The Family Support regional project that’s being directed towards maternity hospitals represents a continuation of the general assistance provided to the healthcare system. MK Group was among the first companies to engage in the fight against the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic during the previous year, allocating a million euros intended primarily for the procurement of medical equipment and support to health institutions. Under the scope of the campaign “For Regional Heroes”, the company also provided 450 doctors and medical workers with free holidays at its hotels in Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia
The Family Support regional project that’s being directed towards maternity hospitals represents a continuation of the general assistance provided to the healthcare system. MK Group was among the first companies to engage in the fight against the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic during the previous year, allocating a million euros intended primarily for the procurement of medical equipment and support to health institutions. Under the scope of the campaign “For Regional Heroes”, the company also provided 450 doctors and medical workers with free holidays at its hotels in Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia.
MK Group has implemented more than 500 CSR campaigns in all local communities where it is present over the past five years alone, with a value in excess of five million euros. The company is a recipient of the prestigious VIRTUS award at the national level, in recognition of projects realised during the previous year, as well as the award of the Serbian Association of Managers for the Most Responsible Company in Serbia for 2020.