Business with a stand

In spite of provocations, participants and supporters of the Euromaidan continue to show moderation and mutual understanding. From the first days of the action Kyivites have been offering hot tea and sandwiches on the Independence Square. Later they started to bring warm clothes for people from regions. Soon the capital’s entrepreneurs decided to support the participants of the Euromaidan. At the moment they provide the activists with sleeping accommodation, food, possibility to charge cell phones, and even daycare for children.

Below are stories about those who do not shout political slogans from the stage, but are trying to support Ukraine’s EU integration with simple, but needed things and actions. This is the business which in its time became the stronghold of Polish economy. This is the business we admire when we come to Italy and Germany. Ukrainian small and medium businessmen are pro-European too, and they are full of action.

THE DAY’S NEIGHBORS OPEN DOORS FOR PROTESTING PARENTS

Recent beatings of the protesters make one take more safety measures. Many people refuse to go to the meeting, because they cannot take their little children to such “peaceful” rallies, but they have no one to take care of their children when they are away.

The service of one of Kyiv’s kindergartens may come in handy for such activists – FamilyArtClub, located in 121a Peremohy Avenue (the building which stands next to The Day’s editorial office). They take care of little ones free of charge, while parents are fighting for the European future at the Euromaidan. “In our opinion parents should not take children to the Maidan, because it is a dangerous place. And all of us have already seen this,” says director of the kindergarten Oksana Khrystenko.

Parents can leave their kids at FamilyArtClub free of charge from 9 a.m. till 9 p.m. Besides, psychologists who work in the establishment talk to children. “Kids are very worried, because they hear what is going on in the Maidan,” Oksana says.

But parents are afraid so far. For information is spread on the Internet that someone can come and hurt the children. On Tuesday only five children aged between four and seven were left in the FamilyArtClub.

“Many people say I am calling on people to leave children and go to the Maidan. On the contrary, I think that those who want to go must leave children in a safe place,” Oksana says.

PERSON OF 2012 YEAR, ACCORDING TO DEN, SHOWS AN INSPIRING EXAMPLE FOR YOUNG GENERATION ON THE MAIDAN

Yehor Anchishkin, an IT businessman who is well known to The Day’s readers, is a well-known founder of food delivery service from shops Zakaz.ua – last year Den called him the Person of the Year for inspiring example he was giving for young generation. We have made sure again that we were not mistaken in our choice. In the complicated circumstances for our country Yehor “passes a ball” both to the young generation, and to the businessmen.

To help feed the participants of the Euromaidan, Yehor has offered to use his own service Zakaz.ua. People can make an order on the website, when they sit in the office or at home in front of a computer: food, water, things, clothes, and mention the Maidan Nezalezhnosti or Mykhailivska Square as the delivery address. The only thing is you need to give a phone number of the person who can receive the order from a courier.

Yehor also called on the owners of the offices near the Presidential Administration to identify provocateurs from footage of their surveillance cameras. “On MVS channel we can see scenes shot by the cameras of the Presidential Administration, where the grader attacks the police in Bankova Street. If they have so many good cameras, why is there still no result? Why has not a real person been caught?” Yehor voices an absolutely fair question.

At the same time he considers that the president, his administration, and MVS employees with ranks higher than a major should be held responsible for all the provocations. “Either you control nothing at all, or you are an enemy of the people, because you organized this provocation. By and large, it is not important who did this – Kliuiev or Liovochkin – they all are subordinates of the president, and he must accept responsibility for them,” Yehor says.

The IT businessman says that we must prevent ordinary employees of law-enforcement bodies from fulfilling the orders of their bosses. “The only thing we are left with is to appeal to reason of ordinary employees of police forces and internal security troops. I am sure there are many good people among them,” he admits.

THE NUMBER OF THOSE WHO FEED AND GIVE HOT TEA TO EUROMAIDAN ACTIVISTS IS GROWING DAY BY DAY

Kyiv restaurant-keeper Dmytro Borysov was among the first to show to businessmen how one can help the participants of the rally. He launched warming centers in his restaurants (FOODTOURIST at 5 Vasylkivska Street, PIV Bar – 2nd line of shopping center Globus in Maidan Nezalezhnosti and salon-restaurant KANAPA in 19a Andriivsky Uzviz), where the participants of the Euromaidan can drink tea, coffee, or refresh themselves with a hot broth free of charge.

“I take part with concrete actions, not by going to meetings,” Dmytro replied to The Day’s question about his decision to support Europrotests in such a form.

According to Dmytro, 150-200 people on average come to their restaurant during a day. Because the number of visitors increased, the owner had even to organize additional shifts, because the employees get very tired.

Borysov refuses to tell how much such effective help to participants of the meetings cost him. “Now it is not the time to count the money – it is the time to support people who freeze in the street for EU integration and against violence, this is my civic stand. This is how it should be,” he considers.

The restaurant-keeper has his own vision of current situation and a way out of it. Dmytro thinks that positive changes can be achieved only when the new generation comes. “Keeping to the EU integration course is the most important thing. And in five or seven years my generation of adequate, professional, honest managers will come and we will create a really democratic and flourishing Ukraine,” he says.

Network of Sushiya restaurants decided to follow Dmytro Borysov’s example. Since Monday centers of helping Euromaidan activists have been operating in six restaurants located in the center of the capital: on the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, European Square, Globus Shopping Center, in front of Ukraine Cinema, near the subway station Teatralna, as well as in the shopping center Arena City in Bessarabska Square. Here the participants of the rally can also drink tea and coffee free of charge.

On the first day the restaurant in Borys Hrinchenko Street received about 300 visitors, restaurant consultant Tetiana told The Day.

The girl says that people often came simply for hot water or to recharge their gadgets. “At first I was surprised to see such a flow of people. But in fact since the day we started to treat tea and coffee to the activists, the atmosphere in the restaurant has become much friendlier. People who come to us get acquainted with others and communicate. And this shapes a corresponding attitude from our employees,” Tetiana says.