EBRD and EU support in Ukraine
EBRD and EU support green innovators in Ukraine
EBRD and EU support green innovators in Ukraine
19 Dec 2022
- €500,000 in grants to support innovative solutions developed in wartime
- Funding to cover 75 per cent of eligible project costs
- Over €1 million in awards provided to 30 innovative Ukrainian SMEs to date
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU) will support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), implementing effective green solutions in Ukraine. This will include €500,000 of new grants to be awarded at an online event in Kyiv. It is the first such event to take place since Russia invaded the country on 24 February.
Thirteen innovative Ukraine-based companies have been awarded Climate Innovation Vouchers and will receive up to €50,000 each to develop and implement new green technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency and prevent climate change.
The Bank has committed to fully aligning its activities with the goals of the Paris Agreement by the end of 2022. Such initiatives are a good example of how, while helping Ukrainian firms to meet their immediate needs, the Bank is also helping them to develop the innovations and technologies that will underpin a greener, better Ukraine in future.
This year, some of the most popular areas for development among the award beneficiaries are intellectual property protection, certification, software development and engineering. The project provides funding for green technologies in various areas, from the modernisation of production lines to the protection of intellectual property.
This year’s winners are:
Releaf Technology – production of paper from fallen leaves and recycled fibre; reduces CO2 emissions by up to 78 per cent, employs principles of circular economy, reduces energy and water usage.
Frendt – development of hardware and software for farmers and agriculture; adjusts processes for the most efficient use of agricultural resources, reduces climate impact.
Input Soft – software as a service (SaaS) platform for resources and data management of airports on the ground; reduces emissions and fuel consumption of fleets on the ground.
Meredot – development of wireless charging stations for micro-mobility; reduces carbon footprint.
Gardarica Tress – development of an agricultural navigator device; reduces fuel costs, as well as the use of oils and lubricants, plant protection products, fertilisers and seeds.
Advansys – Advisor Scada is the company’s service for efficient real-estate management, to minimise the energy consumption of real estate.
Carbominer – proprietary technology for capturing CO2 from the open air and feeding it into greenhouses; reduces CO2 emissions.
PDM Engineering – software and hardware suite for monitoring, prediction and optimisation of power consumption; improves energy efficiency, reducing the carbon footprint of electricity production.
Teplotekhnika Group - ReCon is an integrated software and hardware solution for heat metering in older apartment buildings with vertical heat distribution; switches billing for heating from norm-based to consumption-based; manages consumption by installing thermostats on radiators and investing in energy efficiency; provides water metering services.
Konoplyany Technologii – development of hemp-based prefabricated wall panels; offsets a significant amount of CO2 from construction materials; offers housing products with better internal environment parameters.
S.Lab – development of biodegradable packaging material combining stem of technical hemp and mushroom mycelium; replaces styrofoam and other extruded plastic packaging materials.
AEV Charging Factory – development of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for the domestic and international market; the most technologically advanced product for charging the majority of electric vehicles.
Ecofactor Charge – production of a full range of EV charging stations for commercial and residential use.
The Climate Innovation Vouchers programme is part of the EBRD’s Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC), supported by the EU through its EU4Climate initiative.
In 2017, Ukraine became the first country to benefit from the scheme. To date, the EBRD and EU have awarded over €1 million to 30 local companies.
In Ukraine, the programme is implemented by a consortium led by Greencubator, a non-profit for sustainable entrepreneurship.
EBRD reaches its €3 billion financing target for Ukraine in 2022-23
EBRD reaches its €3 billion financing target for Ukraine in 2022-23
The EBRD financing for Ukraine has already included emergency liquidity for its railway and electricity companies and support for Naftogaz. We are also one of the partners working on keeping trade routes open through the Solidarity Lanes initiative.
The EBRD Resilience and Livelihoods package
The EBRD Resilience and Livelihoods package
The Resilience and Livelihoods Framework is helping countries directly affected by the war, concentrating on:
- Energy security, including through emergency energy purchases to compensate for loss of imports from Russia and Belarus
- Municipal services and livelihoods for displaced persons,
- Trade finance
- Provision of liquidity for small and medium sized enterprises
Investing in food systems with the private sector to address climate change By EBRD multimedia team
Date: Sunday, 10 December
Time: 15:30 – 17:00 (Dubai)
Location: Joint MDB Pavilion (Opportunity Area, Building Code OR02G3); Blue Zone
Join us for a dynamic discussion on how agri-food systems can support the transition to a climate-resilient future and close the gap to meet Paris Agreement goals. The event will explore the intersection of climate action, sustainability, and digital innovation, and highlight the role of the public and private sector. Discover how private sector leaders are mobilising finance for green priorities through innovation and climate-smart technologies.
The event will also feature the key thematic areas that will be reflected in the EBRD’s new Agribusiness Sector Strategy, due for approval in 2024, with climate and green investments at its core.
Speakers:
Gianpiero Nacci, Director, Sustainable Business and Infrastructure, EBRD
Natalia Zhukova, Head of Agribusiness, EBRD
Martial Bernoux, Senior Natural Resources Officer, FAO
Rakesh Kapur, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, IFFCO (TBC)
Arnoud van den Berg, CEO, Al Dahra Group
Jo Puri, Associate Vice President, Strategy and Knowledge, IFAD
Darci Vetter, SVP of Global Public Policy and Government Affairs, PepsiCO Foundation
Black Rock and JP Morgan
Reconstruction Bank
BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase are helping the Ukrainian government set up a reconstruction bank to steer public seed capital into rebuilding projects that can attract hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment. The Ukraine Development Fund remains in the planning stages and is not expected to fully launch until the end of hostilities with Russia. But investors will have a preview this week at a London conference co-hosted by the British and Ukrainian governments. “So many of today’s long-term challenges are best addressed through blended finance and this is one. You need these vehicles to mobilise capital at scale,” said BlackRock vice-chair Philipp Hildebrand, who will be discussing the work on Wednesday. The World Bank estimated in March that Ukraine would need $411bn to rebuild after the war, and recent Russian attacks have driven that figure higher. The Kyiv government engaged BlackRock’s consulting arm in November to determine how best to attract that kind of capital, and then added JPMorgan in February. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced last month that the country was working with the two financial groups and consultants at McKinsey. No formal fundraising target has been set but people familiar with the discussions say the fund is seeking to raise low-cost capital from governments, donors and international financial institutions and leverage it to attract between five and 10 times as much private investment. BlackRock and JPMorgan are donating their services, although the work will give them an early look at possible investments in the country. The assignment also deepens JPMorgan’s relationship with a longstanding client. The bank has helped Ukraine raise more than $25bn in sovereign debt since 2010 and led the country’s $20bn debt restructuring last year. The financiers consulted with private and public sector investors and found they wanted to help Ukraine but were leery not just about war losses but also the country’s governance, lack of transparency and shallow capital markets. What Ukraine needed, BlackRock advised, was a development finance bank to find investment opportunities in sectors such as infrastructure, climate and agriculture and make them attractive to pension funds and other long-term investors and lenders. JPMorgan was brought in partly for its debt expertise. “The fund is being set up to also give public and private sector investors the opportunity to invest into specific projects and sectors,” said Stefan Weiler, JPMorgan’s head of debt capital markets for central Europe, Middle East and Africa. “There will be different sectoral funds that the fund identified as priorities for Ukraine. The aim is maximise capital participation.” The structure calls for the fund to use the lower-cost public money, known as concessional capital, to make initial investments and absorb the first losses. “The notion is that this initial seed capital would be a de-risking mechanism, and it would create the potential for private sector capital to come in at scale,” said Brandon Hall, co-head of BlackRock’s Financial Markets Advisory arm. “Ukraine will have its own organisation to source and syndicate these local investment opportunities.” To overcome investor concerns about governance, the fund is expected to stock its board with representatives of international financial institutions and governments and hire investment professionals to execute its strategy.
