On its company LinkedIn page, Max Viessmann, Group Chief Executive Officer, issued a statement saying in part that the Viessmann Foundation, the charitable arm of the Viessmann Group, is donating 1,000,000 EUR ($1.1 million USD) to support the Ukrainian people in three areas: humanitarian charities, local support through transportation, food and medicine, and long term support through integration and training for all refugees. This includes a ‘1:1 match your donation’ program for all global Viessmann family members.
Max Viessmann is the fourth generation in charge of the family-owned company, one of the world's leading manufacturers of heating, cooling and renewable energy systems. Today, the Viessmann Group has almost 12,750 employees worldwide.
Viessmann called the invasion an attack not just on the Ukrainian people, but on western values such as free thought, free speech, and democracy. The statement continued in part:
In light of the war against humanity and the Ukrainian people it feels almost irrelevant to share that our Viessmann offices and logistics center in Kyiv was fully destroyed by Putin’s armed forces’ bombs. There are no words for the brutality we have to witness in Ukraine. Fortunately, the office was evacuated last week, but the terrible news that we are seeing every day and the pain our team is experiencing breaks our hearts. Our thoughts and prayers are with all innocent people suffering from this senseless war.
The statement also included words of support for those Ukrainian members of the Viessmann corporate family, as well as praise for team members in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and elsewhere who have taken it upon themselves to donate money, time, food, clothing and shelter to help with the resulting refugee crisis.
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