LUkraine Granted Public Utility Status, Awarded European Citizen's Prize

Luxembourg-based non-profit organisation LUkraine asbl recently announced that it had obtained the status of a public interest organisation ("utilité publique") and that it had been awarded the European Parliament's European Citizen's Prize.

Speaking to Chronicle.lu about this news, LUkraine Vice President Inna Yaremenko noted that the organisation had applied for the public interest status last year and obtained it from Luxembourg's Ministry of Justice at the end of May 2023. To apply for this status, non-profit organisations must fulfil certain criteria; as specified on Guichet.lu, the organisations should be active in "philanthropic, social, religious, scientific, cultural, artistic, educational, sporting or tourist activities in the general interest."

As Inna explained, this new status is important for LUkraine as it authorises it to receive legacies, life insurance and tax-deductible donations while being exempt from transfer duties. The organisation can now issue tax certificates to donors, which Inna described as "crucially important for big companies" in particular. LUkraine can now use all donations to directly support its projects and hopes that this status will help attract new partners and donors - Inna noted that donation levels have fallen significantly in recent months. She recognised that many people had already donated to LUkraine but recalled that "the war is ongoing" and continued support is essential.

Inna commented: "We are very appreciative to the Ministry of Justice and to Luxembourg to have this status. It means they recognise our important contribution to Luxembourg society." She added that the next step was to apply for the status of non-governmental organisation (NGO), in order to have greater access to national and international funds.

Just last week, LUkraine also announced that it had been awarded the European Citizen's Prize by the European Parliament for its "Ukraine is Calling" humanitarian project. Inna stressed the importance of this project, which aims to raise €10 million to acquire 112 rescue vehicles for Ukraine, not least since more than 2,000 fire engines and ambulances have already been destroyed in the war-torn country. To date, LUkraine has sent 43 such vehicles (including seventeen armoured ambulances) to Ukraine as part of this project, the goal of which is "saving lives". Inna recalled that it has now been more than 500 days since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, although "the war started for us in 2014", with the annexation of Crimea.

Inna described the prize as "a big recognition of our work and activities", adding that it offers LUkraine "more visibility and new valuable attention" as it inches towards its goal of purchasing 112 rescue vehicles. She noted that both the new status and this prize were important milestones for the organisation.

A prizegiving ceremony is scheduled to take place in Luxembourg in October, followed by another official ceremony in Brussels (Belgium) in November 2023. According to the European Parliament, the European Citizen's Prize "recognises initiatives that contribute to EU cooperation and the promotion of common values."