Help for refugees and people in need: Wintershall Dea donates €80,000 to German food banks

Due to the war in Ukraine, food shortages, and the general increase in prices food banks throughout Germany face huge challenges. In order to help support people facing poverty, Wintershall Dea is donating €80,000 for emergency aid to several food banks in Germany. Tafel Kassel and Hamburger Tafel are to receive €20,000 each. Kassel and Hamburg are the company’s main locations in Germany. A further €5,000 each is distributed to four food banks at the German production sites in Emlichheim, Barnstorf, in the Verden district and in the Dithmarschen district. In addition, the Dachverband Tafel Deutschland, the German umbrella association, is being given a donation of €20,000 to support the work of all food banks throughout the country.

“Our specific goal with the donations is to enable urgently needed spending on infrastructure and logistics such as delivery and transport costs,” says company spokesperson Michael Sasse. “We also want to thank the many volunteers who help the food banks keep up their demanding work in these difficult times.”

There are currently more than 960 food banks in Germany, they support more than 1.6 million people a year with food. Some food banks also serve as meeting places and provide additional offers. The German food banks are now stretched to capacity, both financially and in terms of personnel. Apart from their task of supplying people in need, they now face the added problem that refugees from Ukraine also rely on them. At the same time, more and more people who need help because of higher food prices are turning to the food banks. Wintershall Dea now aims to do its bit to support the food banks in the increasing challenges they face every day. “Wintershall Dea’s generous support is a big help for the Tafel Kassel, especially in these tough times,” says Waldemar Gries, Chairman of Tafel Kassel e.V..

The support is part of a company donation totalling one million euros that Wintershall Dea provided as emergency aid when the war in Ukraine broke out. That sum has since been increased to three million euros. Moreover, donations from the company’s employees are doubled and used for humanitarian aid. Staff from #teamwintershalldea raised €66,000 for people in Ukraine up to the end of April. The donations are awarded by the company’s own Wintershall Dea Foundation for Democracy and Diversity.                                                                                                                                                                                  

Almost half the company donation has already been provided for emergency aid programs. Among other things, €350,000 went to “action medeor.” The aid organisation is committed to supplying medical care for people in the war zone in Ukraine and for refugees in neighbouring Moldova. Thanks to the funding by Wintershall Dea four aid transports carrying supplies such as medicines were made possible and brought to Ukraine in April. You can find more information at: Medicine for Ukrainians: Wintershall Dea donates to action medeor | Wintershall Dea AG

Shortly after the war broke out, representatives from the Works Council, managers and the Executive Board issued an unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s attack on Ukraine in a joint statement: Wintershall Dea demands to end the war in Ukraine | Wintershall Dea AG  

_{About Wintershall Dea}

^{Wintershall Dea is Europe’s leading independent natural gas and oil company with more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 13 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Russia, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business. More in our Annual Report.}

^{As a European gas and oil company, we support the EU's 2050 carbon neutrality target. As our contribution we have set ourselves ambitious targets: We want to be net zero across our entire upstream operations – both operated and non-operated – by 2030. This includes Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) greenhouse gas emissions on an equity share basis. In addition Wintershall Dea will bring methane emissions intensity below 0.1 per cent by 2025 and maintain zero routine flaring of associated gas in its operations. The climate goals are to be achieved through portfolio optimization, emissions reduction through more energy efficiency, investments in nature-based compensation solutions and in future technologies such as hydrogen and CCS. You can find more about this in our Sustainability Report.}

^{Wintershall Dea was formed from the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, in 2019. Today, the company employs around 2,500 people worldwide from almost 60 nations.}