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April 27, 2023 / City of Bucha starts municipal transport company
Almost a year ago (in June 2022) we delivered (together with Holger Zastrow from FDP) three buses to the city of Bucha. The buses were donated by the City of Dresden. The aim was to support the reconstruction of the city of Bucha. Initially, the buses were mainly used in the social sector (for example, for providing transport to children and disabled).

As of this week, the city of Butscha is the proud owner of its own municipal transport company. Buses are now used in regular scheduled services. This transport company does not only serve the city, but the entire Bucha district up to the borders with Kyiv. We are very happy about it and also a little proud to have helped kicking this off.

In brief:

• Since early March 2022, "Bus-loads of Hope" provides buses, diesel fuel and maintenance for the evacuation of refugees from Ukraine's particularly hard-fought war zones.
• The buses are used exclusively within Ukraine.
• The first buses were brought to the Ukraine just two weeks after the start of the war.
• The project was initiated by Dresden-based Gigahertz Ventures GmbH at the end of February 2022 and has since been organized together with the partners CFSR Ukraine and ICC Ukraine and supported by Libereco e.V. Cologne.
  
• Buses are superior to other means of transport on the road in two ways: they are significantly more fuel-efficient per capita and they can be used in both directions (transport of people as well as aid supplies).
• Those buses are used exclusively for humanitarian purposes.
• The transport of passengers and the transport of humanitarian goods are free of charge.
• Our partner CFSR/ICC Ukraine works closely with the IOM International Organization for Migration of the UN as well as with local, regional and national authorities in Ukraine. This ensures the entire chain of evacuation as well as further care and accommodation of the people.
• Only people who lack the financial means to pay for the (often expensive) journey within Ukraine are evacuated.
• You can support these people both with a bus and with a monetary donation for the purchase and use of the buses. Update 01.01.2023: The acceptance of donations for the project was (temporarily) discontinued on December 31, 2022.The funds still available will be used for evacuations in the first months of 2023.
• You can follow our live blog here.
  

Current situation (latest update 01.01.2023)

At the end of July 2022, we were able to get a first-hand impression on ​​the situation of the evacuations from Zaporizhzhaia. We were able to talk to numerous people who just managed to flee from the Mariupol, Kherson as well as from occupied areas of the Zaporizhia region. We have been told of a sharp increase in refugee movements from these regions.

At the same time, people reported about unimaginable conditions at the Russian checkpoints. According to the statements of the people (who were often only able to pass the last of these checkpoints a few hours before our talks) the Russian army is deliberately holding back exit from the occupied territories. We were also told of human protective shields by those directly affected.

At the same time we learned that the evacuations via aid organizations such as CFSR still play an extremely important role for people. This mainly affects the elderly, women with children and the disabled. We often heard that people would not have started the journey without assistance from aid organizations such as CFSR. A major reason here is that these organizations do not only provide evacuation support but also take care of housing and care that follows the evacuation. Often, especially after months in the occupied territories, there is a lack of funds for a train or bus ticket on the free market.

Since our trip to Zaporizhzhia in July, the need has increased again. On one hand, this is due to the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. On the other hand, due to intensified fighting and the Ukrainian government's request to the population to leave the region as quickly as possible. Although the Ukrainian government provides trains for evacuation, these are far from sufficient to meet the needs.

Apparently, many people also avoid the possibility of a train connection due to the repeated targeted shelling of the corresponding infrastructure.

In the meantime, the price of diesel has reached European levels. During our trip to Butscha in June 2022, we had to see that the petrol stations in most cases limited the supply of gas and diesel to 20 liters per vehicle. Corresponding queues formed in front of the few petrol stations that were open. This situation has significantly improved, and diesel and petrol are now largely available . We continue to ask for monetary donations for the operation and maintenance of the buses.

Update 30.09.2022: Evacuations on hold due caused mobilization and referendums

+++ Due to the current mobilization in Russia and the referendums in the occupied areas, citizens are apparently currently being prevented from leaving the occupied and contested areas. The mayor of Mariupol, Wadym Boytschenko, told tagesschau.de on September 27th, 2022: “We can see from the statistics that just a week ago, a hundred people came from the occupied territories every day. Yesterday there were only eight people.” (Link: https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/ukraine-buergermeister-mariupol-interview-101.html). Our Ukrainian partners have confirmed this situation. The evacuations are currently suspended for this reason. Our partner CFSR expects the wave to rise again sharply as soon as people are allowed to leave these regions again.

Update 14.10.2022: Evacuations from Zaporizhia have resumed. +++

Update 23.11.2022: Evacuations from Kherson Oblast launched. For more details, please see -> Busblog.

Update 01.01.2023: The acceptance of donations for the project was (temporarily) discontinued on December 31, 2022. The funds still available will be used for evacuations in the first months of 2023.

Bus-load of hope:

• Currently, we seek to acquire donations for diesel fuel as well as for bus maintenance to evacuate refugees from war zones of Ukraine, particularly those with current or recent intense fighting (status September 2022: South-Eastern Ukraine via Zaporizhzhia), to provide transport within Ukraine to safe areas.
• Since the beginning of March 2022, "Bus-loads of Hope" has delivered a total of 9 buses to Ukraine and has provided around EUR 20,000 for bus operations (diesel, maintenance). These were realized primarily in the form of in kind donations as well as money donations.
• We are still looking for a suitable minibus to be able to reach more remote places.
• Those buses are used exclusively for humanitarian purposes. The transport of passengers and – if necessary/possible – the transport of goods are free of charge.
• Buses are superior to other means of transport on the road in two ways: they are significantly more fuel-efficient per capita and they can be used in both directions (transport of people as well as aid supplies).
• The project passed the first stress test on March 10th and handed over the first two buses on Ukrainian territory.
• During March 2022, the buses were primarily deployed in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions north of Kyiv. From April to June 2022, evacuations have mainly been carried out from eastern and southern Ukraine. Since June 2022, evacuations focus on the Mariupol, Cherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Since November 2011, evacuations are also addressing Cherson region.
• Our partner organization, the Ukraine Charity Foundation Source of Revival (CFSR - a sub-division of the International Chamber of Commerce Ukraine, ICC), draws on a proven network of volunteers to drive and maintain vehicles and provide "last mile logistics".
• CFSR collaborates with the IOM International Organization for Migration of the UN as well as with local, regional and national authorities in Ukraine. This ensures the entire chain of evacuation as well as further care and accommodation of the people.

Coordination and project partners:

• Overall Coordination: Gigahertz Ventures GmbH, Bozener Weg 20, 01069 Dresden, www.gigahertz.ventures
• Coordination Ukraine: CFSR Ukraine Charity Foundation Source of Revival (Unterorganisation des ICC International Chamber of Commerce Ukraine), vul. Geroiev Prazi 12, 93411 Kharkov, Ukraine, www.cfsrua.com https://iccua.org
• Coordination of donations: Libereco Partnership for Human Rights e.V.; Am Scheidweg 62, 50765 Köln, Germany, https://www.lphr.org/
• Green corridor and logistics support in Ukraine: UkrTrans as a sub-division of the Minstry of Infrastructure of Ukraine http://mtu.gov.ua/ (URL possibly offline)
• Further support for care and housing: CFSR/ICC closely cooperates with IOM International Organization for Migration of the UN (https://www.iom.int/) as well as national and local authorities in Ukraine
• Unterstützung der Betreuung und Unterbringung: IOM International Organization for Migration der UN (https://www.iom.int/) sowie nationale und lokale Behörden in der Ukraine
  
• Administrative support in Germany: Eduviso GmbH, Semperstr. 3a, 01069 Dresden, www.eduviso.de

The project is supported by other partners in the areas of logistics, bus purchase and bus operations/maintenance. Here you will find a list of further supporters of the project.

Why do we do this?

We want to walk our talk and help: quickly, pragmatically, and efficiently using our network. As business angels (gigahertz.ventures) focusing on technology-based start-up companies, we are closely connected to Eastern European countries. Our partner and managing director Stefan Schandera lived in Eastern Europe for many years and worked for international organizations (UN, World Bank) in regional development cooperation. He has known Ukraine for over 20 years, ha thes relevant networks. His son was born in Kyiv. 

Of course, our project partners and we receive no compensation.

Appreciation of your help:

Donation of a bus: The use of your bus will be documented in the form of image or video material. As far as possible, we will also strive for a mention in our accompanying public relations work. If you wish, we will add you/your organization to our list of supporters and donors published on this website.

Monetary donation: We will make sure your support is featured and appreciated. The use and application of your support will be documented in the form of image or video material. If you wish, we will add you/your organization to our list of supporters and donors published on this website.

Next steps:

If you can donate a bus or buses, or leave them to us at a good price:

1. Please let us know about your vehicle offer via this form.
2. If you have several vehicles to offer, please fill out the form again.
3. If a question is unclear, please leave the answer blank - we will get in touch to clarify.

If you want to donate (donation receipt can be issued; Germany):

1. Please send us a short e-mail stating the amount of your donation.
2. We will contact you as soon as possible and inform you of the donation account and procedures. Thanks very much.

Questions?

You can reach us almost 24/7 at: contact.us@gigahertz.ventures

Thank you very much for your support!

Gigahertz Ventures

Gigahertz Ventures GmbH

Bozener Weg 20
01217 Dresden / Germany
CEO: Roger Dorsch, Stefan Schandera

Commercial Register District Court of Dresden: HRB 40385

Copyright © 2022 Gigahertz Ventures GmbH: All rights for any text, photo, and video on this website. Partly ARD/mdr. If you are interested in reproduction, please contact us. Thank you very much.