BUSINESS: 528 PRACTICES
Founded in 1998, HELLENiQ ENERGY (https://www.helleniqenergy.gr/en) is one of the leading energy groups in South East Europe, with presence in 6 countries and activities spanning across the energy value chain, namely: oil refining and fuel marketing, exploration and production, renewable energy sources, petrochemicals, power and gas.
The “Wave of Warmth” program focuses on supporting vulnerable social groups and especially children. It is a program that provides heating oil in order to link the Group’s activities to a key social problem and offer a solution. In this context, therefore, during the winter period 2022-2023, HELLENiQ ENERGY ensured that children in paediatric clinics stay as warm as possible, supporting the National Health System at the same time, and that families of low annual incomes with four, or more, children by offering 500lt per family, as all children have the right to a warm home during the cold winter months. Moreover, the Group continued to provide support to school units in neighbouring municipalities by offering heating oil for the 14th year.
The “Wave of Warmth” program confirms once again the HELLENiQ ENERGY’s responsible stance and its long-standing contribution to society following an integrated corporate responsibility strategy, which encompasses high-impact interventions at both national and local level. As was the case during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, so in the outbreak of the energy crisis, HELLENiQ ENERGY, responsibly designs and implements material actions with a strong social impact, considering it its moral responsibility and duty to stand by those in need in this unfavourable conjuncture.
It is worth noting that HELLENiQ ENERGY, being a constant supporter of the Greek society and economy, responds to emergency situations while the improvement of living conditions is one of the main pillars of its corporate responsibility program, showing continuity and consistency over many years. The “Wave of Warmth” program for large families is in line with and frames the emergency financial assistance measures and the policies providing support to families, especially large families, which were established by the State.
Moreover, the Group, a leading player in energy-related developments, applies responsible social policy while supporting the market and consumers as well. At the beginning of this year’s (2023-2024) heating oil distribution period, for the 3rd year in a row, the Group decided to grant a 5% discount for purchases of heating oil from selected service stations of its subsidiary EKO S.A.
2022-2023 winter heating oil supply period
Through the “Wave of Warmth” program, HELLENiQ ENERGY decided to promptly offer its help during this particularly difficult period shaped by the global energy crisis, supporting the Greek society in this emergency situation by offering significant quantities of fuel in the health sector, education, but also to vulnerable groups of the population.
Specifically, it covered all the needs in heating oil for the 2022-2023 winter at the largest public paediatric hospitals of the country – the general children’s hospitals “Agia Sofia” and “Panagiotis and Aglaia Kyriakou”, and the “Children’s Hospital of Penteli” - as well as the public paediatric nursing unit of the “Heppocrates Hospital” in Thessaloniki, contributing thus to making a warm environment where young patients, their families, doctors and nurses continue to fight their own battle.
In addition, the “Wave of Warmth” program provided relief to large low-income families whose budget is severely affected by their energy bills.
Families with 4 children or more, who reside permanently in Greece and use heating oil in their tax residence were eligible to participate in the program. Specific and transparent eligibility criteria were defined, based on the income criteria established in accordance with the Household Income and Living Conditions Survey for the year 2021 conducted by the Hellenic Statistical Authority, increased, however, by 10.5% by HELLENiQ ENERGY, in order to include even more families. The program was implemented within a short period of time. It was achieved through the effective cooperation of the competent bodies and the dedication of HELLENiQ ENERGY’s employees.
At the same time, the heating oil supply program to school units of the neighbouring municipalities where the Group operates in Thriasio, West Thessaloniki and, for the first time, Kozani, continued. This program has been covering the energy needs of the schools for several years.
The heating oil supply program has always been one of the largest corporate responsibility actions implemented by the Group and is part of the Group’s efforts to support the sustainable development goals for the development of sustainable cities and communities. Through this action, heating oil is offered not only to schools but also to bodies and institutions of the local communities and remote areas of Greece, in an effort to provide assistance to the Greek society as a whole. The extension of the program to paediatric clinics and large low-income families is a new important initiative taken by HELLENiQ ENERGY which is oriented to the same direction, the continuous concern for supporting the economy and society on the basis of the specific needs, challenges and emergencies that the country faces each time. Please see relevant video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6yKt9b5aNw
The investment allocated for the “Wave of Warmth” program to children’s hospitals and large families is a decision made by the HELLENiQ ENERGY’s management to provide emergency assistance to society, which increased the originally approved annual budget for corporate responsibility actions. This highlights the company’s desire to respond to the urgent energy needs that arose without depriving the rest of society of its service.
In addition, the implementation of the project required many hours of work and the cooperation of many different departments from the Group’s companies.
It is also important to mention that additional resources were spent on the transport of fuel even to hard-to-access parts of remote Greece.
The results of the action in terms of supply can be summarized as follows:
The Group has been providing heating oil to schools for 14 years, taking care of the children’s learning conditions. In this long-standing program, cooperation with the local authorities is continuous, from the ordering of the heating oil to its delivery, during which each school unit is directly involved.
With a firm commitment to the needs of society, the Group decided this year to intensify its initiatives to support more population groups and citizens affected by the effects of the global energy crisis. Thus, the “Wave of Warmth” program was an initiative launched by HELLENiQ ENERGY with the aim of caring for vulnerable social groups and children, rather than in response to a request from the Ministry of Health. This shows the Group’s perspective on voluntary social contribution, which was acknowledged as particularly important according to a relevant statement made by the Deputy Minister of Health, Ms. Mina Gaga.
Furthermore, the “Wave of Warmth” program for large low-income families was implemented by the subsidiaries of HELLENiQ ENERGY, EKO and HELLENIC PETROLEUM, with the valuable support of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, through the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE). The certification of beneficiaries by the AADE was important in order to ensure that the process is credible and transparent.
For the implementation of this new initiative, which benefited thousands of families throughout Greece, HELLENiQ ENERGY created a special online platform https://zestasia.helleniq.gr/, through which interested parties were informed about the eligibility terms and conditions and submitted their application until 31 December 2022. More specifically, by entering their Tax Identification Number (TIN) and the Electricity Supply Number of their tax residence, users were automatically transferred to the website of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), where they entered their codes. The Public Authority checked whether the conditions for joining the program were met, according to their assessed tax return for the year 2021, and informed HELLENiQ ENERGY accordingly.
It is worth mentioning that HELLENiQ ENERGY implemented the actions in cooperation with the competent Ministries. Their announcement was made at special events, which were held in the presence of the competent Ministers.
The engagement of the Group’s employees was crucial for the implementation of the “Wave of Warmth” program. The employees who participated in this important project responded promptly and effectively, understanding their role in an organization with a sense of responsibility towards Society and the State, in view of the consequences of the energy crisis that affected the country. All the communications that had to be made with the competent Ministries, AADE and the local governments, in order to implement the Group’s donations and sponsorships, were carried out within strict time-frames, as also were the actions of the employees from the ordering to the delivery of heating oil in 50 prefectures in Greece.
With the “Wave of Warmth” program, HELLENiQ ENERGY supported children’s hospitals and nursing units, schools and large low-income families in order to contribute, to the extent of its share, to addressing the effects of the global energy crisis.
Specifically, through the action in children’s hospitals, more than 1,000,000 litres of heating oil were distributed to the 4 paediatric hospitals in the first quarter of 2023, where more than 30,000 children are treated annually. At the same time, resources were also released for the rest of the country’s hospitals. According to statements made by the Minister of Health, Mr. Th. Plevris, the initiative of HELLENiQ ENERGY has fully covered the children’s hospitals of Athens – “Agia Sofia”, “Panagiotis and Aglaia Kyriakou” and the “Children's hospital of Penteli” – as well as the pediatric nursing unit of the “Hippocrates Hospital” in Thessaloniki. According to the Deputy Minister of Health, Ms. Mina Gaga, the support is important for the hospitals and for the young patients and those who work for them.
Almost 13,000 beneficiaries, members of families with at least 4 children and low income received 650,000 litres of heating oil. Deliveries of heating oil were made rapidly to the tax residence of the beneficiaries even in the most remote areas of the country, thanks to the Group’s extensive network of service stations. The geographical distribution was extensive, as heating oil was delivered to beneficiaries from 50 prefectures. Typical cases include the delivery of oil to large families in Gavdos and Kalymnos, who received free heating oil in their homes, although the Group did not even have any service stations at all on these islands.
Over 2,000 school units in the local communities of Thriasio, West Thessaloniki and Kozani have covered their energy needs over the last 14 years with the supply of 3,173,405 litres of heating oil. This way, appropriate learning conditions were created for 328,839 pupils.
The “Wave of Warmth” program has no measurable quantitative benefits for the Group. However, it falls within the framework of one of its overarching goals and is fully in line with its perspective of contributing to the improvement of citizens’ daily living conditions. This initiative not only responds to basic social needs, but is also linked to the activities of HELLENiQ ENERGY, which, having a leading role in the energy sector, is charting a sustainable course, creating a strong legacy for the new generation. Also with this project, the Group contributes in a multiplier way to the dissemination of the Sustainable Development Goals.
