Valerii Selishchev

Valerii SELISHCHEV

[ region ]

Donetsk

09 / 06 / 2018

Head of the Upper Kalmius Water Filtration Plant at Voda Donbasa, Donetsk

[ topic ] Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

The conflict in eastern Ukraine continues to impact 4.4 million people including 1 million children.

Switzerland has helped to secure access to drinking water for some 3.9 million people on both sides of the contact line.

Since 2014 the water filtration station has been hit 52 times. We’ve had to shut it down 12 times for repairs. But we’re still up and running. My employees have not received their salaries for the past 4 months. Yet hardly anyone has given up on the station; they keep working even during the shelling. We treat water for about 1 million people. I can tell you that the situation was not easy before the war but it has really worsened since. We can’t afford to pay our electricity bills and so we have more and more debts to repay.

We treat water for about 1 million people in a very difficult situation.

The Sivers'kyi Donets'-Donbas Channel crosses the frontline at several points. It is neither maintained nor cleaned up. As a result, algae and waste slow down the inflow of water and therefore it decreases our capacity. Half-filled water pipes get dirty more rapidly. Switzerland is the only state that has helped us here. We also receive support from NGOs. With no humanitarian supply of chemicals and cleaning products we risk diseases such as hepatitis, cholera, or dysentery. So far we’ve been managing to function. We keep testing our water every 2 hours. I am quite proud that no water-related disease was reported so far, not even cases of diarrhoea. Our water is still healthy for the local population.

Since 24th February 2022

Valerii Selshchev's situation is not known since February 24, 2022. Switzerland has intensified its efforts to support Ukraine and Ukrainians despite tragic circumstances. We work together for a peaceful, safe and prosperous Ukraine.

after

24 feb 2022

What else is Switzerland doing for Ukraine?

Switzerland has been assisting those impacted through various means – from humanitarian aid, humanitarian demining and financial support to granting protection status S to individuals from Ukraine seeking refuge. By 15 February 2024, the Swiss federal government had spent a total of around 3 billion Swiss francs to support Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland and people in Ukraine.

In 2022, Switzerland organised the first Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano and launched the political process to help Ukraine rebuild. The Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in Switzerland in 2024, set up a path towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. In the longer term, the Federal Council aims to allocate 1.5 billion Swiss francs to support Ukraine's recovery efforts by 2028.

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