Energy Efficiency Fund. Major START-UP of UKRAINE

Kyiv June 24, 2016

Ukrainian Energy Efficiency Forum ’16 entitled as "Energy Efficiency Fund – Ukraine’s Major Start-Up" took place on June 23, 2016 at NSC Olimpiyskiy in Kyiv. The Forum was organized by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities of Ukraine, along with a Co-organizer A7 CONFERENCES.

The Energy Efficiency Fund is designed to significantly decrease the volume of expensive natural gas consumed by the population, ensure comprehensive renovation of buildings and save about USD 3 billion a year on energy resources. 80 percent of the housing sector is extremely outdated and needs energy renovation. Therefore, one of the major challenges of energy companies is heating the housing sector, where 60 percent of energy is lost. Investments will be attracted by the Energy Efficiency Fund to finance energy efficiency projects. The Fund will be created using funds of the state budget, monetized subsidies, as well as funds of donors and private investors. Operation of the Energy Efficiency Fund will result in up to 50 thousand new jobs, improved trade balance, increased tax revenues of the state budget (up to EUR 500 million a year). The participants of the forum stressed that the forum would encourage financial institutions and market players to compete for Ukrainian customers and their well-being.

During the opening of the forum Volodymyr Groysman, Prime Minister of Ukraine, underlined, "The Energy Efficiency Fund will start operation from 2017. It will accumulate UAH 20 billion, received from international donors, state budget and private investors. Therefore, the relevant regulatory framework should be adopted by the end of the current year. I strongly hope, that we will adopt the resolution on creation of the Energy Efficiency Fund, the Fund will be established by the end of 2016, and it will start operation in 2017. This will allow us to invest more resources, increase efficiency and improve competitiveness. Subsidies should be ultimately transformed into investments in the energy sector. I really want us to become a country with a strong national economy."

Hennadiy Zubko, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities of Ukraine, stressed, "The Fund will make it maximally easy for every "client" to reach energy efficiency. Using the on-line platform, clients will be able to select project types, energy auditors, offers of construction companies and banks, if loans are necessary. Even today there are three Ukrainian banks to choose from. We need a large number of energy auditors and energy service companies, which will be responsible for renovating and modernizing buildings and energy networks. Thus, energy efficiency measures, supported by the Fund, will be financially attractive for average households, which will receive substantial benefits from project implementation, such as additional capitalization of the building and its increased market value, savings due to "warm" loan servicing, improved apartment comforts, heating expenses reduced by 50%. At the same time, this will require the Ukrainian people to consolidate efforts and will become a key energy efficiency reform."