By Olga Rosca
Patients and medical staff at clinics as well as children attending kindergartens and schools in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro are to enjoy better heating in their buildings thanks to funds provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) fund, to which the European Union and Sweden are the largest contributors.
The E5P fund grant of €5.5 million (US$6.6million) complements a €25 million loan from the EBRD to the municipal energy management company Dniprovska Municipalna Energoservisna Kompanya.
With the help of the joint financing, close to 100 public buildings will be refurbished to improve their energy efficiency, introduce better heating systems and create a more comfortable environment for students, patients, teachers and doctors.
The project builds on a previous joint pilot investment by the EBRD, the E5P and the Clean Technology Fund to the Dnipro municipal energy management company, which helped upgrade 33 schools and 48 kindergartens in the city.
EBRD Deputy Director for Ukraine, Mark Magaletsky said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with the E5P fund and its donors to boost energy efficiency investments in Dnipro. The refurbishment of public buildings will help create comfortable conditions, save energy bills and promote green practices. Overall, with prior investment we will help the city of Dnipro renovate almost 200 public buildings.’’
Head of Operations Section (Economic cooperation, energy, infrastructure and environment) at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Chloé Allio said: “The EU continues supporting energy efficiency efforts in Ukraine. With the contract signed today, the E5P Fund provides a €5.5 million grant to an ambitious energy efficiency project that will help the Dnipro municipality save energy and reduce over 7,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The EU has been supporting the E5P Fund since 2010, with €50 million mobilised so far.’’
Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine, Tobias Thyberg added: “Sweden is the initiator of the E5P concept and has over the years contributed over €40 million to the E5P Fund in Ukraine. These funds are to support energy efficiency projects in Ukraine that reduce energy consumption, improve the living and working conditions of the citizens and overall contribute to the global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to minimise climate change impacts. Sweden will continue to support E5P as the flagship initiative to mobilise financial resources for the green climate-friendly transition of municipalities in Ukraine and across the Eastern Partnership region.”
The E5P is a multi-donor and multi-IFI fund operational in all the Eastern Partnership countries. In Ukraine, it is supported by the European Union (the largest contributor), Sweden (the fund’s initiator and largest bilateral donor), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovak Republic, Switzerland, Ukraine and United States of America.
E5P support for the country totals €137 million dedicated to municipal energy and environmental projects, mainly for energy efficiency in buildings and district heating rehabilitation.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the start of its operations in the country in 1993, the Bank has provided almost €14.5 billion in financing across 489 projects.
