IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, the European Union, and Germany signed agreements on saturday to support the Ukrainian government’s work in reducing energy waste and greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector.
Agreements were signed by IFC and EU likewise IFC and Germany to set up a new multi-donor fund to help boost energy efficiency in Ukraine. Under the agreement, IFC will initially manage up to 53 million euros of funding from the EU (43 million euros) and Germany (10 million euros). Resources from the fund will co-finance programs of the Ukrainian Energy Efficiency Fund (EEF), a new initiative developed by the Ukrainian government, with combined support from the EU and Germany to provide grants to homeowners’ associations for energy-efficiency renovations in multi-family buildings. Ukraine has one of the largest housing stocks in Europe, but many homes are old and inefficient, with poorly insulated buildings that lose as much as 50 percent of their heat. Furthermore, energy is highly subsidized in Ukraine.