Ukraine war: 'I flew from Shoreham to Moldova to see the refugee situation on the ground'

Lee Grant, founder of the British Chamber of Commerce for Moldova, said more than 500,000 refugees have arrived in the county since the start of the war with Russia - despite it being considered one of the poorest countries in Europe.

Currently, more than 80,000 Ukrainians have stayed in Moldova and the country's breakaway state of Transnistria.

After leaving the UK on May 10, Lee arrived in the region of Transnistria to discuss humanitarian aid deliveries. This proved successful, with aid starting this week via the UK Charity www.mad-aid.org.uk. The charity works with local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to deliver items for women's hygiene and personal needs alongside other required items.

Lee, alongside the trainers from the Counter Trafficking Network, visited the southern village of Palanca in Moldova at the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) bus stop.

Lee went five miles across the border to the Ukrainian village of Mayaky.

He said: "After the visit to Palanca on the return journey to Chisinau the team visited a Roma centre from which was not the most pleasant circumstances and being present during a delivery of meals for the Roma Centre it was seen as highly below standard and to then find out that its supposedly financed by the world food program.

"We were told this level of meal is actually good compared to what is normally provided, which [raises] a lot of questions.

"Also the young lady who was managing the centre said she is doing 12 hours a day, seven days a week and is no longer financially supported. She will most probably not be able to carry on for much longer and this is not a unique case.

"Local people still need to pay bills and feed their own families. It's obvious the local volunteers across Moldova are undervalued and under acknowledged.undervalued and under acknowledged."

Lee said the British Chamber of Commerce for Moldova was officially created on February 4 - just 20 days prior to the invasion of Ukraine.

He said the charitable organisation was left 'in limbo' but quickly took 'an out of the box approach' due to the situation in Ukraine and humanitarian requirements in Moldova.

It was agreed that the first business networking evening would be held at the London Boutique Hotel.

Various events and meet-ups have been held since, with up to 9,000 sporting equipment donated by the International Rotary Club.

Ukrainian chocolates and books have also been distributed among children.

Lee said: "Some of the kids spoke very good English for their age and were very interactive in the day's events, from which clowns was amusing the kids with some fun games, but mostly they kids was around the tables with the layout of sweets and chocolates.

"The NGO EzzyLink is a recipient of a grant of £20,000 from the MAD Aid Micro Grants Program that was negotiated by the British Chamber of Commerce Moldova, EzzyLink will be using the grant to provide extra functions services for Ukrainian children at the summer camp alongside sports training and language lessons for social inclusion and activities for children and mothers."

Lee held several official meetings with Moldovan authorities such as the Investment Agency, Secretary of State of Energy, Economic Council, Wine of Moldova, UNHCR IOM and dozens of businesses from various sectors that trade with the UK or looking to trade with the UK.

Now, Lee is focusing on trade between the UK and Moldova.

He said that UK expertise is required in Moldova in order to build 'long term bilateral trade'. As part of the initiative, the chamber is looking to make 'several delegations' to visit the UK based on agriculture, wine and 'most importantly' energy sustainability.

Lee also plans to open a shop in Shoreham, stocking Moldovan wines and other products whilst sourcing UK produce to be exported to Moldova.

He added: "Now Moldova has lost one of its biggest trade partners Russia, there is a lot of produce that the UK could benefit from and export to Moldova.

"Moldova is seriously overlooked in more ways than one and it's surprising to see how the Dutch, German and French companies have investments in business and trade in Moldova for several years.

"Yet the UK having Brexit, and supposedly being global Britain, is an understatement as the Moldovan market is still not touched by the UK, and with the current situation in Ukraine this truly opens the doors of opportunities for the UK Business Sector.

"Moldova is overlooked which is a crisis within a crisis when you understand that Moldova is dubbed the poorest country in Europe but is doing the utmost to help in the only way it can by transiting and hosting Ukrainians alike.

"When you see UK NGOs such as Mad Aid, who have most probably been sent to Moldova in the form of physical aid of a value leading up to one million pounds, is truly amazing and shows the commitment for charity of British people."

Lee has now compiled a list of small NGOs that people in the UK can donate to. This can be found here.

Lee added: "It's also truly amazing to see the efforts of the Ukrainian Embassy staff and ambassador in this period of Ukraine being invaded.

"It's clearly no easy job when you're the ambassador to the poorest country and you must source aid to support Ukraine's efforts, yet they are highly active in what they are doing and how they do it."

Speaking during an online webinar in March, Angela Ponomariov, the Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova in the UK, said the Moldovan authorities are making a 'huge effort to support refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine'.

She added: "Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the republic of Moldova has opened its borders to all refugees from this county, offering them all the possible help.

"Words of admiration and appreciation for the humanity and hospitality demonstrated by the Moldovan people. Their desire to help our neighbours in this dramatic and unprecedented situation.

"The Republic of Moldova has the largest number of refugees in the entire region. For a small country, with a population of 2.6million, with quite modest capacities, this is, indeed, a big challenge.

"Managing the influx of refugees requires significant costs. To cope with the situation, we need support from our partners.

"We are very grateful for the assistance we have received so far.

"I'm personally impressed by the British charities and ordinary people in the UK who daily contact the embassy for the Republic of Moldova in London, expressing their solidarity and requesting information about opportunities to help bring in refugees from the Republic of Moldova.

"I want to thank them wholeheartedly for their interest and compassion."

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