Victor and Elena Pinchuk welcome fourth child

The family of Ukrainian businessman and art patron Victor Pinchuk is celebrating a new addition to the family. On 28th September 2011 Pinchuk’s wife Elena gave birth to a baby girl, whose name has not yet been announced.

She is the fourth child in the Pinchuk family, and their second one together. Their first child, Ekaterina, is eight years old. Twenty-year-old Roman is Elena’s son from her first marriage, and Mariya, 29, is from Pinchuk’s previous marriage.

Elena is the daughter of former president Leonid Kuchma, she founded the first and sole Ukrainian foundation to address HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is working at private expenses.

The list of Pinchuks activities in Ukraine is hard to exhaust. Apart from the economic forum for the world’s mighty in the Crimea, Pinchuk’s philanthropic venture “Victor Pinchuk Foundation” contributes significant donations to fight AIDs, supports talented youth and memoralize the Holocaust. Pinchuk also partners with the George Soros Fund on certain initiatives.

One of Victor’s most notable charity enterprises is the renowned Pinchuk Art Center in the center of Kyiv, which offers to the visitors world-class contemporary art free of charge. Pinchuk has has also sponsored the performances of legendary musicians Elton John in Kyiv in 2007 and Paul McCartney in 2008.

Another face of AIDS

While the total number of people infected with HIV/AIDS in Ukraine is about 1.5 percent of the population, you should multiply this figure by approximately 15 to determine the real incidence of this infection among risk groups. The abuse of injectable drugs and promiscuity (indiscriminate unprotected sex) even among children aged 10-12 are the main pillars of this statistical picture.

This is the opinion of experts from UNICEF and the international charity AIDS Foundation East- West (AFEW), who recently completed a study entitled “Children and Young People Living or Working on the Streets: the Missing Face of the HIV Epidemic in Ukraine.”