On October 27, the “TOGETHER-2022: Sustainable transformation as part of the global technology of victory” interaction forum was held online.

Detailed information about the Forum

The following were among the issues brought up for discussion:

  • Climate-responsible politics in conditions of war: how to overcome populist resistance;
  • The price for Ukraine of (not) decarbonized energy and industry;
  • Green construction, operation of buildings and energy-efficient technologies;
  • How to use all energy efficiency tools;
  • How to find resources for the implementation of European directives;
  • How communities can become energy independent.

“Energy efficiency, energy substitution and energy security are key priorities in the restoration and support of the real sector of the economy. The state, society, business, MFIs and development agencies – we all have to make a joint effort to maximize support and work in these areas!”” It was with these words that Serhiy Porovskyy, Head of the PAEU Energy Efficiency Committee, Chief Expert of UNIDO on Energy Efficiency Financing and Policy, and co-organizer of the Forum began his speech.

During his speech, Serhiy Porovskyy briefly presented the achievements of the UNIDO Project, which since 2015 has been actively working on popularizing a systematic approach to energy efficiency and helping companies implement Energy Management Systems in accordance with ISO 50001 and energy efficiency measures. The Project has helped many companies in their technical capacity, and also trained a significant pool of experts in energy management, energy audit and optimization of energy-consuming systems. Currently, experts actively participate in many projects in Ukraine and actively use the acquired knowledge. A list with their contact information is available on the Project’s website. It may also be interesting to study the reports of practices on the implementation of energy management systems at enterprises where practical work on the implementation of energy management systems was carried out with the assistance of the Project.

The project also introduced the All-Ukrainian Award: Pacesetters for Energy Management – the Ukrainian version of the prestigious international Energy Management Leadership Awards. But since the research carried out by the Project showed that 85% of enterprises were negatively affected by hostilities, the competition was postponed until the end of martial law.

An important aspect of the Project’s activity at the moment is the Loan Guarantee Fund – the first and one of the kind guarantee-based financial mechanism launched by a UN agency with a selected financial partner in Ukraine. The Fund was launched by UNIDO together with UKRGASBANK JSB precisely to facilitate the obtaining of loans by enterprises for the implementation of energy efficiency measures.

This is a unique offer and even in the conditions of war the work of the Fund does not stop.

On the contrary, in the wartime conditions, in which Ukrainian business is currently surviving, the existence of such Funds is extremely important, since it is very difficult to think about investment in energy efficiency or in anything at all:

  1. the risks are great and unpredictable,
  2. the situation is unstable,
  3. and the current National Bank key policy rate is simply “killer”.

However, this is the essence of guarantee funds: when risks are difficult to assess or predict, there is a party that claims to cover them. Our UNIDO Project acted as such. Within the Fund’s volume of USD 1.5 million. The Project fully guarantees loans of up to USD 150 thousand per one legal entity for the implementation of energy efficiency measures. More detailed information about the conditions of the Loan Guarantee Fund can be viewed on the website of UKRGASBANK JSB at the link.

However, the existing support programs do not meet the level of critical needs that the real sector of the Ukrainian economy is currently facing. Now it is necessary to work on a significant increase in financial and technical assistance to the industrial sector of Ukraine and to cover the risks of attracting foreign investments. That is why the concept of the new “Recovery Facility” program with a volume of USD 60 million was prepared back in May. The focus of this program will also be on industrial energy efficiency with a mandatory increase in the size of the guarantee fund. Therefore, the size of this program is indicated as “from” USD 60 million, since this fund will be increased through direct donor contributions. Now, in order for the process to move faster, the interest of government representatives and a direct appeal to donor agencies and UNIDO are needed. This can significantly speed up the launch of such a program, otherwise the launch process itself may take more than a year, which is absolutely unacceptable for Ukraine and Ukrainian business.

At the end, Serhiy Porovskyy noted: “Of course, the success of the results depends on the extent to which we will achieve unity and synergy between the state, society and business. From our side, we have to maximize our efforts and work.

You can view the event at the link.