Energy Day
31 May 2010
1st European-Ukrainian Energy Day Held in Kyiv
The First European-Ukrainian Energy Day was held with support of the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency in Kyiv on 31 May - 1 June 2010. The leading experts from Ukraine and EU, representatives of governmental authorities, donor and non-governmental organizations came to the event to join efforts towards addressing the most urgent issues within energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors.
IBSER experts have also joined in the discussion, taking into account the similarity of the main topic and issues on the agenda of this event to one of the tasks within the Municipal Finance Strengthening Initiative Project, which the Budget Institute is implementing with support from USAID and which is intended to provide support to Ukrainian cities in implementation of their investment projects for infrastructural improvement in the area of energy saving.
The Chairman of Ukraine’s National Agency for Efficient Use of Energy Resources (NAER) Serhiy Yermilov opened the event, stressing that the Government of Ukraine has developed and approved a National Targeted Economic Program aimed at reducing the energy-intensity of the Ukrainian GDP by 20%, increase the share of renewables in the total energy balance of Ukraine to 5%, and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 15%-20%. Implementation of this program would require investments totaling Hr 250bn. “NAER, working with international financial organizations, has already mobilized a significant portion of this amount, even though only three months elapsed since the program launch,” Serhiy Yermilov told those present.
According to NAER chairman, this year's State budget allocates Hr 600mn into the centralized energy saving fund. "We plan to increase this amount several fold through co-financing, using the principles, which are currently practiced in the financial sector. The share of financing the energy efficiency projects from the State budget would amount to 25%, with the balance to be funded by partners. We expect to sign an agreement on World Bank credit line of $350mn in July or August of this year. The total investment amount to be provided by the World Bank could reach $2bn per year," Serhiy Yermilov said.
As part of the event, the participants discussed a range of important issues related to adapting the Ukrainian legislation to European standards; project financing in Ukraine and attracting private investments, as a tool for project implementation; further development of alternative energy sources in Ukraine (wind power, biomass and biogas sources), issues of energy saving in the building sector and district heating networks, as well as donor initiatives as instruments for overcoming the crisis.
This information has been prepared based on materials from the website of the National Agency of Ukraine for Efficient Use of Energy Resources (NAER): http://naer.gov.ua/archives/2497
Glyanec