The Howard G. Buffett Foundation – the foundation of American philanthropist Howard Buffett, son of legendary investor Warren Buffett – will finance the restoration of the Factor-Druk printing house, which was destroyed by a Russian missile strike.
Source. This was reported by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.
Howard Buffett has already established work with Serhiy Polituchyi, president of the Factor group of companies, to find the necessary equipment, the statement said.
In his video message, Buffett said that they had spoken with Sergіy Polituchyi. The Foundation will help restore the printing house, possibly in a temporary format at first, to replace the equipment as soon as possible and start printing textbooks so that children in schools receive them in time for the school year.
‘They can destroy books, but not Ukrainian resilience and commitment. And we have to restore the printing house, and we have to do it quickly. We look forward to working with Sergiy and working in Kharkiv,’ Buffett said.
According to Sergiy Polituchyi, under favourable conditions, the printing house is expected to be restored in 4-5 months.
The Ministry of Economy stressed that government programmes are also available to publishers. In particular, publishing houses and printing houses will be able to receive a grant of up to UAH 8 million for the purchase of equipment or other needs. More information about the grants is available here: https://1ll.ink/kv8FL
Yulia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, stressed that the attack on the Kharkiv-based Factor-Druk printing house was not accidental, but another manifestation of Russia's systemic policy of destroying Ukrainian culture. The enemy's attack significantly reduced the capacity of the book publishing industry. About 50,000 books burned at the enterprise.
Howard Buffett is an American billionaire and philanthropist, the middle son of businessman Warren Buffett. Since the age of 30, he has been involved in the agricultural sector and is a member of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway. He is also the CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, a charitable organisation dedicated to food and community security.