Enormous willingness to help HHLA families from Odesa
Since the closure of its terminal in the port of Odesa following the Russian attacks on Ukraine, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG has assigned top priority to the safety of its 480 employees and their families. Together with consultancy subsidiary HPC, an HHLA team consisting of employees working in various areas, organised transportation from Romania, where the refugees had arrived, to Hamburg. In addition, support staff assisted people who had fled Odesa in their private cars.
The refugees will stay with German HHLA employees temporarily. More than 70 HHLA employees and their relatives and neighbours responded to the company’s call and have offered people a place to stay in their homes. The German employees are not only providing the refugees with “homes” for the initial period but also serve as contacts and chaperones for pending bureaucratic procedures. They are supported by HHLA staff members with knowledge of Ukrainian and Russian.
Furthermore, HHLA employees have collected more than 40,000 euros within a short period of time in the course of a “Together for Odesa” pledge campaign.
With regard to the refugees’ arrival, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board Angela Titzrath states: “As one of Europe’s leading logistics companies, we are aware of our responsibility for our employees, no matter at which location they work for us. Cohesion and the ability to rely on one another are distinguishing features of our corporate culture that will stand the test in these difficult times, as they do in our everyday working lives. We are also demonstrating solidarity with our staff members in Odessa by continuing to reliably fulfil our supply mandate at all other locations and by rail.”
HHLA operates a container terminal in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa. In consultation with the local authorities, the terminal was closed and employees sent home when the Russian army invaded. The HHLA Executive Board immediately arranged to pay employees their monthly salaries in advance so that they could stockpile goods they need for everyday consumption.