The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine have concluded a cooperation agreement on advisory services to support the preparation of Ukraine’s Public Buildings Energy Efficiency project.
The agreement was signed on June 2 ahead of the upcoming donor meeting of the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund (EPTATF), which would provide EUR 150,000 to support the implementation of this agreement, the ministry’s press service reported.
The Ukraine Public Buildings Energy Efficiency project is expected to be further financed by an EIB loan of EUR 300 million and by grant contributions from the E5P and the EU on top of the advisory services. It will address the main sectoral bottlenecks, namely the lack of long-term funds for small and medium-sized Ukrainian municipalities, as well as the lack of support throughout the entire energy efficiency sub-project cycle, including design review, procurement, contract administration, monitoring and supervision of construction, commissioning, testing and acceptance. Significant positive economic impacts can be achieved by scaling up investment and with substantial technical assistance support, the ministry said.
The project will increase energy efficiency in 1,000 buildings, mainly kindergartens, hospitals and schools. It will help save more than 1 million tons of CO2 and benefit 2.5 million people across the country. By including COVID-19 safety measures, the project will also improve the medium and long-term pandemic resilience of public buildings, and in particular of hospitals.
First Deputy Minister of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Vasyl Lozynskyi said that the ministry and the EIB had signed an agreement for the provision of a long-term low-interest loan of EUR 300 million to implement the wide-scale thermal modernization of public buildings. In particular, the modernization will include the installation of advanced energy-efficient equipment, meters and control systems as well as the upgrade of heating, ventilation and lighting systems, etc. (Ukrinform/Business World Magazine)
