UIA received the “GR-breakthrough of the year 2020” award

Last week in Kiev, the third gala event took place on the occasion of the presentation of the annual awards "The Best GR Specialist of 2020" to professionals in the field of Government Relations (GR) and lobbying. The Prize was organized by the Ukrainian Association of GR professionals and lobbyists, established in 2014.

Today GR forms a modern vision of cooperation between business, government and society. In developed democracies, this tool has been working for centuries, and in Ukraine, the legislative framework is just being formed.

Ukraine International Airlines was awarded in the “GR-breakthrough of the year 2020” nomination, and its CEO Yevhenii Dykhne received the award.

During the period of the full lockdown, when the borders were closed, UIA was working on resuming the flight program by creating a mechanism for testing passengers for COVID-19 directly at the airport, which contributed to the resuming of the availability and regularity of international flights under the conditions of quarantine requirements of various countries. It was UIA that initiated the creation of the first laboratory that performed PCR testing and antibody testing on the territory of the largest transport hub in Ukraine - Boryspil International Airport.

The airline took a peremptory position on the issue of providing passengers with the opportunity to "withdraw" from self-isolation in the "Diya" application after receiving a negative test result, as well as to fly out of Ukraine with a certificate of a negative PCR test.

“Perhaps now it is difficult to remember how we all flew to Ukraine and stayed for 14 days in self-isolation, regardless of whether you are sick or not. In the early days of the lockdown, the "passenger effect of Wuhan" extended to everyone returning from abroad, as if they were all totally sick and infectious. Rapid testing at airports changed this ideology and triggered to the gradual resumption of flights,” says Yevhenii Dykhne.

Today, the airline focuses on the need for full testing of all passengers arriving and departing by the IFA method in order to remove restrictions for Ukrainian citizens to travel to European countries. “The vaccination passport is our new generation visa,” continues the CEO of UIA.