Support and Employment of Veterans and Their Families

As of April 2024, there are over 1.2 million war veterans in Ukraine. Of these, over 110 thousand had one form of disability at the beginning of the year. And this figure is constantly growing. Unfortunately, when returning home, veterans still face many challenges: the consequences of injuries, psychological trauma, and difficulties in adapting to civilian life.

Serhiy Chernenko, CEO of FUIB: “Society often does not understand the feelings and needs of veterans, and this creates a feeling of isolation. Therefore, every business now has to reorient and transform to meet the needs of defenders returning to civilian life. Ukraine is becoming a country of veterans, and it should become a country for veterans. We started the transformation with ourselves. The FUIB team has developed a bank-wide project to build an inclusive business so that every employee, client, and partner feels dignified and has equal opportunities in cooperation and service.”

Employees of almost all divisions of the bank are involved in the development of barrier-free business. All employees of the branch network have been trained in communication when serving people with various types of disabilities in branches. A community of inclusion ambassadors has been created at FUIB. All 207 operating branches of the bank throughout Ukraine are physically accessible, have convenient entrance groups for people with various types of disabilities. However, the bank is developing inclusive branches equipped with special equipment. For people with hearing or speech impairments, all standard FUIB branches have a QR code to call a professional sign language interpreter. 67 branches have an internal barrier-free space: lowered cash registers, handrails, crutch holders, waiting areas for people in wheelchairs, adapted bathrooms. For people with visual impairments, 51 branches have a voice assistant installed in ATMs. By the end of 2025, we will ensure physical and information accessibility in 50% of branches in every region of the country. The bank is also currently updating its banking applications to make them convenient for customers with various types of disabilities.

Since it is difficult for veterans to overcome the challenges of returning alone, in July 2024 the bank launched the partner platform “Live Towards” https://www.zhyty-nazustrich.com.ua  – a set of initiatives aimed at the high-quality integration of veterans into civilian life. War veterans themselves are involved in the development of the platform: they participate in discussing, testing and filling in projects. We have also united Ukrainian veteran communities in the project. Today, the platform’s partners are Superhumans, Veteran Hub, InvictusGames, Uklon Inclusive, “Heart of Azovstal”, TSUM Kyiv, KSE Foundation, Future Development Agency, Big City Lab, Yanko, U+ System, Neopalimi.

The platform’s educational and cultural projects help veterans socialize and establish their peaceful lives, and civilians find understanding with veterans. We have involved 180 thousand veterans and their loved ones in the platform’s projects.

The Financial Restart chatbot is a 6-week educational program with daily tips and tasks that increase the level of financial literacy of veterans and all interested civilians. The training is conducted from analyzing one’s own financial situation, studying financial instruments to drawing up a business plan for opening a veteran business. All material is subtitled for people with hearing impairments, and audio is added for people with visual impairments. 6,962 participants have already completed training in the @financial_restart_bot chatbot.

The Financial hub is a space in several cities of Ukraine (Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Poltava, Ivano-Frankivsk), where educational events are held for veterans and their family members, helping to understand how to effectively manage their own budget and expenses, as well as about various opportunities for earning, investing and lending. In total, the hub was visited offline (in recording) and online by more than 159,000 participants.

The Unbreakable Stories of Veterans – a photo project with Konstantin Liberov. In his lens are veterans who were able to return to a full life after being injured, alongside those who supported them on this path. Each photo is a story of support and trust. The communication reached 2.5 million Ukrainians.

Manifesto of Equality of Different. Together with TSUM Kyiv, Superhumans and The Invictus Games created a special installation that symbolizes the power of unity. We showed that diversity is our strength, and unity is the path to equality. The first mannequins with prosthetics in Ukraine were made with the support of Superhumans. 0.5 million Ukrainians learned about the initiative from the media and social networks.

We are creating the veteran TG channel “Live Towards” in collaboration with experts and war veterans https://t.me/zhytynazustrich . In the TG channel one can find: support from those who have experienced similar situations; inspiration from stories of ups, downs and achievements of other veterans; useful information from experts and specialists on urgent issues; the opportunity to share your own experience and influence the formation of content; news, useful initiatives, invitations from the “Live Towards” platform. The TG channel has united 12,500 veterans and their friends for the sake of supporting each other.

The Educational and grant program for the development of veteran business involves teams of 2 people, led by a veteran or serviceman who has the status of a participant in hostilities. Program features: the opportunity to start a business with a friend or loved one, receive modern business training, mentoring and expert support after opening a small business for 3 months, servicing individual entrepreneurs at a bank on special terms, assistance in promoting a business thanks to the “Live Towards” platform. 297 applications were submitted in the first wave of the program, 430 in the second. 30 selected teams from the first wave underwent online business training from teachers and experts from KSE Business School. The teams presented their business plans. 14 pitching winners received funding from 500 thousand to 1 million hryvnias according to the created business plans. Currently, training has been completed for 40 veteran teams from the second wave – 20 of them will receive grant funding. 

The Photo project with Playboy magazine “Beauty with a Scar”. The heroines of the project in the lens of war photographer Konstantin Liberov are five women who were seriously injured as a result of Russian aggression. For the first time, veteran Anastasia Savka, who lost a limb while performing a combat mission, is on the cover of the publication. We strive not only to support all people who were seriously injured, but also to show by the example of our women after injuries that they need not only physical recovery, but also spiritual strength and psychological adaptation in a new body, support and understanding of society. The total coverage of the project in Ukrainian and foreign media and social networks is over 200 million.

For the return of veterans to be dignified and full, they need the support of loved ones, society, and all of us. FUIB launched the podcast “Live Towards” – a project about real stories of veterans, their families and friends, who together overcome the challenges of returning to civilian life. 5 episodes have already been released on the topics of informing families about injuries without severe trauma, femininity and accepting oneself with scars after injuries, returning from captivity and post-traumatic growth, finding a job and starting your own business. 660 thousand views of the podcast are on YouTube and 5 million coverage of the project is in media and social networks.

The Accessibility Check is an initiative of FUIB and the Big City Lab urban bureau aimed at creating a physically accessible environment in small businesses in Ukraine. The program provides financial assistance (FUIB covers 50% of the costs) and expert support from Big City Lab for arranging an entrance group or bathroom in a business. In this way, we overcome 2 barriers to business: lack of experience and finances. In the first wave of the project, we will make 10 small businesses from different parts of Ukraine accessible.

Qualitative integration of veterans is impossible without sports. FUIB became the title partner of the preparation and participation of the Ukrainian team of 35 servicemen and war veterans in the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025.

In October 2025, a new project [Super]ordinary was introduced in partnership with U+ System, Yanko, and Invictus Games in Ukraine. The project provides veterans with free introductory adaptive training sessions, which take place in partner halls under the guidance of qualified, carefully selected trainers. All involved trainers are trained by experts from Invictus Games to work professionally, safely, and with an understanding of the needs of program participants. 112 applications have already been submitted from veterans, and one open group tennis training session was held. 14 veterans with injuries and limb amputations took to the court in Vyshgorod. For veterans, adaptive sports are a chance to believe in their own strength, learn new skills, and create social connections. We plan to provide 1,000 adaptive training sessions by the end of the year. 

Impact of the decision
The bank’s investments in cultural and educational projects of the “Live Towards” platform from July 2024 to today have already amounted to UAH 76 million. The most expensive business training and grant support for veteran business.
FUIB’s investments in veteran initiatives are investments in:
– high-quality support for our stakeholders (veterans are our employees and clients, partners, contractors and experts),
– the country in which we live and do business (ensuring the stability and health of the entire Ukrainian society),
– forming a culture of inclusion in the bank (uniting colleagues around the values ​​of equality and dignity through training, improving products and processes for people with various types of disabilities, ambassadorship, volunteering)
– contribution to the bank’s reputational capital.

With the help of BHT research in the banking sector, which is regularly conducted by InMind, we monitor the image profile of FUIB.

FUIB’s indicators according to InMind/VNT Research/intermediate profile of banks/December 2024 have increased significantly over the year:
– Patriotic – growth from 6% to 10%;
– Participates in the development of the country – from 7% to 11%
– With a good reputation – from 15% to 18%;
– Listens to customers, caring – from 6% to 12%
– Positive tone of information about the bank – growth from 32% to 40%

According to the special PR-Service Corporate Reputation Management Quality Rating/Corporate Capital Management Quality Rating/January 2025, FUIB took 2nd place among banks in 2025.

FUIB is constantly studying the experience of employees at the bank. Thus, in 2024, the eNPS indicator, the level of staff loyalty, was 74%, decreased by 1% compared to 2023. However, the results of the survey on the levels of loyalty, satisfaction and engagement of employees are the highest in recent years. The number of open comments increased by 30% – employees openly talk about what they like and what worries them.

Our social initiatives work effectively for the team, business, society and reputation. The “Live Towards” platform is unique on the market. It is distinguished by the quality of projects, durability, stability, constant improvement, creation of new projects together with veteran communities and market experts on veteran integration. The entire bank team lives towards.