This doesn’t include other tangibles worth millions more, such as the free labor that runs logistics, prepares food, provides security, and the in-kind contributions of medicine, food, clothing and fuel, as well as other miscellaneous items.
An approximate calculation by the Kyiv Post shows that money is mostly coming from within Ukraine and a trickle from abroad. Donors are saying they are investing in their own future.
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Fundraising began on Nov. 21 when the first activists gathered on Independence Square to protest the government’s rejection of a comprehensive treaty with the European Union that day. The first ten days brought in Hr 262,000. The main purpose was to pay for logistics with the onset of winter coming early. Tents were purchased, as was food, water, and money and printed leaflets and stickers.
But the needs changed after Nov.30, when protesters were beaten by riot police that morning. Afterward, medicine and related costs were added to the spending list. Lawyers also started providing pro bono services to those detained or who received summons to appear before law enforcement bodies.
A self-organized group that calls itself the Civil Society Sector of EuroMaidan collected more than Hr 600,000 in the first 12 days of protests, according to their financial statement. Then they stopped accepting money after coordination of EuroMaidan moved to the Trade Union building, Iryna Chulivska an activist, explained.
Now the movement’s headquarters, the Trade Union building receives on average between Hr 100,000 and Hr 500,000 each day, according to the commandant and Batkivshchyna lawmaker Stepan Kubiv. Three-quarters of this amount are cash donations. “We have a special clear box in the entry of the building. Everyone can donate,” he said.
A separate body controls all the spending keeping the collection body at arm’s length.
Online donations are also being made. As soon as EuroMaidan began, the Big Idea project started to collect money through the Spilnokosht service. One of the initiatives, “To Warm and Feed Maidan”, already raised Hr 235,700. “Hr 100,000 of this amount was transferred to the Kyiv for Reform non-profit organization. They prepared a report on the expenditure of money and then we will prepare acts to transfer the next installment,” Vita Bazan, a coordinator of Spilnokosht project explained.
Spilnokosht is only one of many sources of funding. Activists from different countries use their own accounts to raise money for the protesters braving bone-chilling weather. A special group of Ukrainians who live abroad collected more than Hr95,000. Some of this money was used to buy sleeping bags, a generator, gasoline, clothing, and medication.
People are even using cryptographic money – bitcoins and lightcoins – as charity money. More than BTC 0.2 (around $200 or Hr 1,600) has been transferred for the needs of protesters.
In-kind contributions have been pouring in as well. Clothing, tents, fuel, tableware, equipment, and electrical appliances have been donated. Field kitchens, for example, were bought by a group of business people, Lyudmyla Klymenko, an activist, says. She estimates that 10 such kitchens were donated worth a total estimate of Hr 80,000 to Hr 150,000.
To feed protesters every camp kitchen uses tons of food. A portion comes from headquarters. Meanwhile, donors make up for the rest. “People bring tons of food every day! Bags with sugar, somebody brought 40 liters of honey,” Tetyana Pogrebnyak, a field kitchen worker says. There is an empty water bottle near her workplace which she used to collect money. One kitchen can raise around Hr 6,000 daily.
“A couple of times we got 800 pizzas from businesspersons in eastern Ukraine. Restaurants have also brought dishes,” Kubiv says, adding how thankful he is for acts of kindness.
According to Kubiv, food is the biggest expense. The Trade Union building in the first nine days spent around Hr 230,000 on food and Hr 10,000 on water. Money was also used to pay for public utilities, electricity and for salaries for those who have a license to work in the dining room. “We also paid Hr 4,000 to rent the boardroom,” he explained. Other rooms in the Trade Union building cost Hr 500.
Portable toilets came with a price tag of more than Hr 20,000. Heating costs –generators and firewood – can reach more than Hr 8,500. According to Kubiv’s estimation, activists have already spent more than Hr 50,000 on clothing and blankets. “Of course, the volume of expenditures fluctuates depending on the number of people who is present here. The police violence reduced the number of volunteers,” Kubiv said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Mariia Shamota can be reached at [email protected]. Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach contributed to this story.
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