DTEK Oil&Gas has opened a football section in the Velyki Sorochyntsi community as part of the Shakhtar Social project "Come on, Let’s play!". This initiative is being implemented in such a format in Poltava region for the first time. DTEK is the general partner of the Shakhtar Social non-profit foundation project that aims to develop amateur children's football in Ukraine.
With the financial support of DTEK Oil&Gas, the football section was opened at the premises of the Velyki Sorochyntsi children's and youth sports school. Children aged 7 to 12 may train there for free, as the cost of equipment, uniform, maintenance of the sports ground, and the coach's salary are covered by the company. At this stage, 26 children from different villages that are part of the territorial community have already enrolled in the section. After the beginning of the school year, the number of trainees is expected to increase.
The Shakhtar Social invited Dmytro Shutkov, a former Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper, four-time Ukrainian champion, four-time Ukrainian Football Cup winner and current club coach, to the first open training. All young football players could make a try to score a penalty, and also took part in an autograph session.
"This is a significant day for our community. Thanks to the sponsorship of DTEK Oil&Gas, the support of the Shakhtar Social, a football section has been opened at the premises of the Velyki Sorochyntsi children's and youth sports school. It is extremely important. This is a great gift for our children: they will be able to develop, play sports, achieve high results, and possibly build a career in future. I am glad that our partnership with DTEK's oil and gas business is strengthening from year to year,” said the head of the Velyki Sorochyntsi territorial community Oleksandr Tyshchytskyi at the opening of the project.
DTEK Oil&Gas is a reliable partner of the communities. As a socially responsible business, the company invests in the socio-economic development of the communities and improvement of the quality of life of their residents. These investments are aimed at developing infrastructure, quality of education and educational institutions, increasing the availability of sports facilities. This contributes to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals which are integrated into DTEK's ESG strategy for the oil and gas business. In 2021, DTEK Oil&Gas will allocate more than UAH 9 mln for the implementation of corporate social responsibility projects. Last year, the amount of social investments in the development of the regions of the company’s operation amounted to UAH 8.5 mln, and taking into account the royalty payments, the communities received more than UAH 50 mln for development.
"Community support and development is an integral part of the company's ESG strategy. Every year, DTEK Oil&Gas systematically implements socially significant projects in the regions of operation, which contributes to the development of education, culture, medicine and sports. Our goal is to promote the sustainable development of the territories and improve the quality of people's lives," emphasized DTEK Oil&Gas’ CEO Igor Shchurov.
