Ams Osram has launched a Ukrainian fundraising effort focused on providing relief to refugees of the Russian invasion. The Austrian LED and sensor maker is matching employee contributions and donating to two relief agencies.
It has also stopped shipping goods to Russia and Russian ally Belarus.
“Ams Osram has implemented an employee matching fund with the German Red Cross as well as Austrian SOS Kinderdorf (SOS Children’s Village) to help those in need,” the company told LEDs Magazine. “These are reputable and established organizations, and the donations are specifically to help the people who are being displaced. The company will match the employee donations.”
The company did not say how much it has raised so far.
Other LED and lighting companies have also initiated relief efforts. For example, Signify is working with agencies to identify lighting needs.
Ams Osram, based in Premstaetten and with main Osram offices in Munich, has also “halted all shipments and activities to Russia and Belarus,” a spokesperson said.
Both ams Osram and Signify informed LEDs of their efforts in response to questions we have been sending companies regarding the war.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, unleashing devastation. Over 3 million people have now fled across borders, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The number is approaching 10% of Ukraine’s pre-war population.
Ams Osram’s representative supplied additional answers to emailed questions below.
LEDs: Is ams Osram closing operations in Russia?
Ams Osram: As a company, we have limited activities in Russia and have halted all shipments and activities to Russia and Belarus.
LEDs: How extensive is your physical presence there, be it office, manufacturing, retail, distribution centers, etc.?
Ams Osram: We have limited activities in Ukraine and Russia, and we have no production sites in the Ukraine or Russia.
LEDs: Same question re: Ukraine, and how are you hunkering down there?
Ams Osram: We have a small number of employees in the Ukraine. The safety and security of our employees and their families is our top priority. We are in contact with them and supporting them.
LEDs: How extensive are your sales in the two countries?
Ams Osram: We generally do not comment on sales in individual countries, but we consider the impact of conflict sanctions to ams Osram business as immaterial (less than 1% of revenue p.a.).
LEDs: Does the Russian invasion affect your supply chain?
Ams Osram: Ams Osram has observed the situation between the Ukraine and Russia on an ongoing basis for the past weeks. We have taken preemptive actions regarding our supply chain and are working on various immediate- and long-term actions including extra inventory, hedging, alternative suppliers and materials, shipping routes to avoid disruption, and all possible options to mitigate our risks.
LEDs: Is ams Osram engaging in refugee aid in any way?
Ams Osram: Ams Osram has implemented an employee matching fund with the German Red Cross as well as Austrian SOS Kinderdorf (SOS Children’s Village) to help those in need. These are reputable and established organizations, and the donations are specifically to help the people who are being displaced. The company will match the employee donations.
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Feel free to contact us with your company’s updates and efforts regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
More on Ukraine/Russia from Endeavor Business Media brands
Electronic Design collects coverage around EBM
For IndustryWeek, former federal attorney Seth DuCharme raises awareness of legal issues around sanctions and export controls
Lightwave reports on U.S. technology export ban
Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing reports on aid from German trade fair organization
MARK HALPER is a contributing editor for LEDs Magazine, and an energy, technology, and business journalist ([email protected]).
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Mark Halper | Contributing Editor, LEDs Magazine, and Business/Energy/Technology Journalist
Mark Halper is a freelance business, technology, and science journalist who covers everything from media moguls to subatomic particles. Halper has written from locations around the world for TIME Magazine, Fortune, Forbes, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Guardian, CBS, Wired, and many others. A US citizen living in Britain, he cut his journalism teeth cutting and pasting copy for an English-language daily newspaper in Mexico City. Halper has a BA in history from Cornell University.
