Memorandum of Cooperation with a Local Community

Expanding the production of finished medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients, Farmak established a separate substances production facility in Shostka, Sumy Region, in 2015.

Farmak seeks to develop not only its own production activities, but also the environment in which it runs its business, creating conditions for sustainable development. Cooperation with local communities is often sporadic and unsystematic. As a result, aid does not solve a problem of the community comprehensively, but solves the current problem just for “today”.

Therefore, a Memorandum of Cooperation for 2021 was signed to ensure systematic long-term cooperation between Farmak JSC and the community in Shostka. The memorandum provides a clear action plan for the year.

Before the Memorandum was signed, a special survey was conducted among the ATC (amalgamated territorial community) residents concerning their life satisfaction in the community and other current issues. The Memorandum of Cooperation was developed based on this study.

The ATC residents expressed their concern about the issues associated with the environment, economic development, healthcare, outflow of young professionals, education, and health of the community residents.

PROBLEM SOLUTION

The Memorandum of Cooperation for 2021 was developed based on the study. The Memorandum provides for the implementation of a number of social and environmental projects, as well as assistance in improving the investment and tourism attractiveness of the ATC.

“Today, the signing of such documents between big businesses and regional authorities is not a common practice in Ukraine. Memoranda usually encompass certain investment plans of large companies in the region. However, our philosophy is not just to invest in production, but invest in the environment as well and, in this way, create conditions for sustainable development,” said Volodymyr Kostyuk, Farmak Executive Director.

RESULTS OF THE DECISION

Issues dealt with in 2021 under the Memorandum:

Issue	Solution	Result for 2021
Outflow of young professionals, lack of new jobs	Creation of preconditions for developing an IT cluster in the Shostka Town Territorial Community	In May 2021, the Shostka ATC received technical aid: 10 personal computers (system unit, monitor)
Lack of an investment passport in the community	Assistance in developing the community’s investment passport to improve the local investment attractiveness	Provision of consultations and recommendations, standards for preparing investment passports
Lack of resources for holding educational events for the staff of the Shostka ATC and the town’s business community	Development of a catalogue of events for further trainings	Training courses for local self-government bodies are held in November and December.
Lack of environmental training	A number of lessons dedicated to the environment were organized for the Shostka Education Complex based on the Eco-School educational platform.	Apart from completing a training course, students developed their own environmental project “Touchless Drinking Fountain with a Bottling Module”. Farmak provided financial aid to its implementation at the school.
Environmental situation in the city	Farmak modernizes its production facilities to improve waste water and air treatment.	They were modernized in order to improve the efficiency of performance of treatment facilities on the industrial site of Shostka. Additional equipment was installed to help increase the water treatment efficiency by 10% to 15%. Investments totaled over 100 thousand euros. Modernization also includes instalment of AQUAFLOT Biscrubber for air treatment. This system improves air treatment efficiency and minimizes unpleasant odors.
Insufficient medical equipment of hospitals	Purchase of medical equipment needed by hospitals	AE-8-NW oxygen concentrator was offered to the town hospital in November. In April, a system for monitoring the patient’s physiological parameters, a coagulometeric analyzer and their components were purchased for the children’s hospital.
Health of the community’s residents	Organization of sports events for the community, healthy lifestyle awareness raising	In September, a sports and family event “Running for Health” was held for the town’s residents. 500 community’s residents participated in it. Stars such as singer Ruslana Lyzhychko and presenter Yulia Karpova were invited to raise awareness of the healthy lifestyle.

Thanks to the Memorandum, our cooperation with the community has become more systematic and stable. It is predictable and transparent both for the company and for all the stakeholders.

We believe that such a thorough approach as educating residents, working with young people, developing the investment attractiveness of the region will solve important issues for the community in the long run. In addition, it is more effective than occasional charity.

“We have serious experience in building a systemic business that works successfully not only in Ukraine but also abroad. We believe that it will be interesting for both local businesses and local authorities. We are joining the development of a modern and responsible business environment in the Shostka ATC,” said Volodymyr Kostyuk.

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