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CEOs and Corporations Pledging Millions in Support for Ukrainian Humanitarian Efforts

CEOs and Corporations Pledging Millions in Support for Ukrainian Humanitarian Efforts

USA News Group – According to the United Nations, more than 10 million people are believed to have fled their homes in Ukraine because of the ongoing conflict. Beyond 4.3 million have already left for neighboring countries, while an additional 6.5 million are still believed to be displaced within Ukraine itself. Coming to their aid, global governments and their leaders recently helped organize the Stand Up for Ukraine event, which raising more than $10 billion in new grants and loans. On top of the governmental aid, the corporate landscape has also shown its generosity in the efforts to aid Ukraine, including donations either corporately or from individual executives from companies such as Petroteq Energy, Inc. (OTC:PQEFF), Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG, GOOGL), Civitas Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CIVI), and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE).

After having already played a significant role in developing a more environmentally-friendly process for producing oil with his company’s Clean Oil Recovery Technology (CORT), founder and former CEO of Petroteq Energy, Inc. (OTC:PQEFF), Alex Blyumkin has just announced his intention to donate half of his potential personal proceeds from an ongoing takeover by Viston United Swiss AG.

"Being a native of Ukraine, born in Odessa, and now a U.S. citizen, I have a sincere desire to help the people of Ukraine in this hour of sadness and sorrow as they experience the horrors of war,” said Blyumkin. “I have spoken to so many friends and family within the country, and I can attest personally to the suffering and hardships they are dealing with. Petroteq is currently awaiting the outcome of the proposed tender offer by Viston to purchase a majority of Petroteq. If this offer is successful, I will donate half of my profits from the sale of my shares to Ukraine's humanitarian causes.”

The deadline for Viston’s offer is set for April 14th, which is for an all-cash transaction worth C$0.74 (US$0.59) per common share, Viston’s offer gives Petroteq a valuation of 279% over the closing price of C$0.195 on the TSX-V August 6, 2021—the day prior to the Canadian exchange’s cease trade order began.

This valuation also delivers a 1,032% premium over the TSX-V volume-weighted average price of $0.065 per common share for the 52-week period preceding April 15, 2021—the last trading day prior to the publication of the voluntary purchase offer in Germany.

On the US OTC exchange, shares of PQEFF is trading around ~US$0.33 as of April 18, 2022. This means there’s still a near 60% premium left available for those who follow through offering their shares to the buyer through the official takeover offer website PetroTeqoffer.com.

“After years of research and development, we have achieved a breakthrough not only are we more environmentally friendly, but we can also produce high-quality oil more cost-effectively and efficiently,” added Blyumkin. “It is no coincidence that in this phase we received a takeover offer which, although I believe it is well below the potential value of the company, will provide certainty and immediate liquidity to the nearly 10,000 shareholders and open up new prospects for the company.”

Beyond Blyumkin’s intentions, trom the top down, it appears that Viston’s offer has been favorably received by the entire Petroteq team. The Board of Directors has indicated its unanimous intention to tender shares, as well has one of the company’s largest shareholders, Cantone Asset Management, LLC.

Using its proprietary oil-extraction and remediation technology, Petroteq recently updated and completed the design for a planned oil sands extraction plant, capable of handling 5,000 barrels per day with Valkor, LLC.

The CORT system utilizes a conventional sand dryer modified for service with petrochemical solvents in a closed loop. A combined unit has been proposed as a turnkey system to handle as much as 8,000 tons of sand per day with a target of EPA Tier 1 quality for the resulting sand. 

Back in February, Petroteq announced a third-party cash flow analysis from Broadlands, which showed a base case of a Net Present Value (NPV) of $1.285 billion, $602 million, and $341 million, based on a pre-income tax basis, at discount rates of 0.0, 7.5 and 15%, respectively.

Broadlands noted that an extraction plant producing 5,000 bpd could (as estimated by Petroteq) be capable of yielding 6,000 tons of sand per day or 1,860,000 tons per year (based on 310 operating days per year and operating 24 hours per day), and that silica flour is postulated to be 15% of the saleable product, fracking quality sand 55%, and bulk sand 30%.

Another oil and gas producer, Civitas Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CIVI) has pledged $10 million in humanitarian aid to Ukrainians. As Colorado’s first carbon neutral oil & gas producer Civitas is devoted to clean production of hydrocarbons, much like Petroteq.

Funding will be distributed to numerous charitable organizations associated with immediate refugee assistance for displaced Ukrainians as well as other peaceful humanitarian efforts.

“The tragic events still unfolding in Ukraine have created unimaginable suffering for millions of people, and our hearts go out to those whose lives have been upended by violence,” said Civitas Chairman and Interim CEO, Ben Dell. “As Civitas is committed to responsible global citizenship, we feel compelled to provide resources to those most impacted by the senseless invasion of Ukraine. We hope for an immediate end to this conflict.”

It's not just energy companies contributing, but big tech as well.

One of those that are throwing their hat into the efforts is Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG, GOOGL), which in the days following the February 24 invasion, contributed $15 million in donations and in-kind support to aid relief efforts in Ukraine. This included $5 million in employee matching contributions and $5 million in direct grants.

Less than 10 days later, Google committed an additional $10 million to help organizations delivering both immediate aid and longer-term assistance for refugees in Poland.

Much like Petroteq’s Blyumkin, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai is announcing his forming of a CEO Council that has pledged more than $75 million in new financial and in-kind donations, and whose members will work to create jobs for many of the refugees.

Google has had, as part of our values, longstanding support for immigrants, dreamers and refugees in the U.S. Our co-founder Sergey came as a refugee to the United States,” noted Pichai. “I’m an immigrant here, and definitely know what it is to be welcomed with open arms by a new place.”

Guest hosting and services platform Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) has also been active in working to aid displaced Ukrainians, having waived its service fees within the country, while also announcing a program that would house up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees for stays that could last a few weeks. These stays are funded by Airbnb, Inc., donors to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund, and the generosity of Hosts through Airbnb.org.

A report from NPR stated that people began to book Airbnbs in Ukraine with no intention to stay, but to lend their support. The novel way to directly support Ukrainians was said to gross nearly $2 million from this method alone.

As well, Airbnb has reportedly cancelled all existing reservations in Russia and Belarus for stays or Experiences starting on or after April 4, 2022 in response to the ongoing crisis.

Rather than cancel it Russian operations, pharma giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) has openly pledged its intention to donate all of its Russian profits to humanitarian causes in Ukraine.

Pfizer’s CEO Alberta Bourla, Ph.D. said his company would halt its investments in Russia, while still supplying needed medicines there. However, Pfizer has pledged to donate all profits from its Russian subsidiary to “causes that provide direct humanitarian support to the people of Ukraine.” Meanwhile, Bourla also told CBS News’s “Face the Nation” that Pfizer would be shutting down new investments in Russia.

"These decisions align with our patient-first values and ensures that every dollar of profit derived from Russia will strengthen Ukraine and its people as they continue to valiantly defend their nation and freedom from this unprovoked and unjustified attack," the company said in a statement.

Article Source: https://usanewsgroup.com/2022/03/25/this-quick-turnaround-takeover-is-the-kind-of-play-smart-investors-snap-up-in-a-heartbeat  

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