Kyiv, Ukraine, June 25, 2020
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, Ukraine’s Energy Efficiency Fund, and KredoBank signed agreements today to help increase energy efficiency in Ukrainian multi-family buildings. The partnership will provide grants and advisory services for modernization of the residential sector to mitigate adverse environmental impact of wasteful energy consumption.
Around two-thirds of Ukraine’s multi-family buildings urgently require heating system upgrades to reduce losses from inefficient production and distribution of heat, especially during the winter. However, the costs for such complex renovation works are often unaffordable for homeowner associations. To address this, KredoBank signed two separate agreements — one with the Energy Efficiency Fund and another with IFC — to facilitate Ukrainian homeowner associations obtain the finance needed for energy-efficiency modernization of their buildings. The Energy Efficiency Fund aims to distribute $235 million as grants to homeowner associations to cover the cost of renovation.
Under these agreements, KredoBank, a part of the PKO Bank Polski Group, will become the first private bank in Ukraine to join the Energy Efficiency Fund’s program. The bank will provide loans to homeowner associations to enable them to start renovation while their applications for grants are being processed. IFC will provide advisory support to KredoBank as it participates in the Energy Efficiency Fund’s program.
“We are establishing an effective partnership between the homeowner’s associations and the financial institutions, to make the relations mutually beneficial for all parties,” said Yuliia Holovatiuk-Ungureanu, CEO of the Energy Efficiency Fund. “The possibility to combine bank financing with grants will make participation in the energy-efficiency program easier and enable more Ukrainians to benefit from it.”
The Fund is financed from the state budget of Ukraine in partnership with the European Union (EU) and the German government.
Jerzy Jacek Shugaev, Head of the Board of KredoBank, said: “We see great opportunities in working with homeowner associations. Since 2016, our loan programs and special banking offers have become available to the Ukrainians, and since 2004 our shareholder PKO Bank Polski has been offering specialized products for homeowners in Poland. This partnership with IFC and the Energy Efficiency Fund will allow us to expand our offer to Ukrainians and to make this direction a strategic part of the bank activities.”
Jason Pellmar, IFC Regional Manager for Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, said: “This new valued partnership with KredoBank will be a critical success factor in making this initiative more attractive for customers. The comprehensive approach to energy-efficient renovations will help Ukraine benefit from more efficient energy consumption, while also supporting the country’s efforts to mitigate climate change.”
The energy-efficiency program led by the government of Ukraine was designed and launched with support from an IFC advisory project in partnership with the EU in October 2019.
About IFC
IFC—a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2019, we invested more than $19 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About Energy Efficiency Fund
Energy Efficiency Fund is a state institution of Ukraine, which provides support in the form of grants to homeowners’ associations for the implementation of comprehensive technical solutions for energy-efficiency renovations in multi-family buildings while factoring in the best European thermal modernization practices. It aims to reduce CO2 emissions to fulfill the Paris Agreement, to implement acquis Communautaire of the European Union and Treaty Establishing the Energy Community, and to ensure Ukraine’s compliance with its international obligations in energy efficiency.
About KredoBank
KredoBank, founded in Lviv in 1990, classified as systemic important bank by National Bank of Ukraine, is a member of PKO Bank Polski group, the biggest financial institution of Poland and one of the largest financial groups of Central and Eastern Europe. Dominating unit of this group is PKO Bank Polski, the biggest bank of Poland with 100-year history, the strongest bank out of 48 European banks according to stress tests by European Banking Authority made in November 2018. KredoBank offers full range of banking services for retail customers, small, medium and big businesses of Ukraine. Bank actively offers loans for retail customers, small and medium enterprises with a range of special programs with minimal rates.
