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Businesses and consultancies from Kyiv, Dnipro and Lviv will receive vouchers worth EUR 160,000 in total for innovations ranging from the introduction of new construction materials to the application of modern billing systems. The vouchers will provide grant funding for researchers and businesses proposing energy-efficient technologies and schemes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to EBRD, The Financial reports.

The first six winners of the Climate Innovation Vouchers are:

Read alsoEBRD President urges Ukraine to continue reforms - mediaVTS Komplect (Dnipro) - household cardboard recuperator; Ecoisme (Kyiv) - energy monitor for effective electricity consumption; Elektrokars (Kyiv) - billing systems for electro-car charging stations; Engineering Innovations (Lviv) - prefabricated reinforced-concrete construction technology; Institute of Ecology and Energy Saving (Kyiv) - software for the operation of solid-fuel boilers; UkrTsentr-Grup (Kyiv) - Hempire Mix insulation material.

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The CIV project was initiated by the EBRD’s Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC) program, which is financed by the EU Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF). Ukraine has become the first of the EBRD’s countries of operations to benefit from the CIVs, where the project is implemented by a local NGO, Greencubator, that promotes climate innovations and a green economy in Ukraine.

Read alsoRenewables to provide quarter of Ukraine's energy by 2035It is expected that the CIV program, with a total budget of EUR 1 million, will support around 50 innovative projects in Ukraine until the end of 2018. Vouchers for individual projects may range from EUR 20,000 to EUR 50,000 depending on their innovativeness, complexity and potential benefit. Further recipients will be identified via three more rounds of the competitive selection process.

The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. To date, the Bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost EUR 11.6 billion through 383 projects since the start of its operations in the country in 1993.

The EU Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) is a mechanism aimed at mobilising additional funding to finance capital-intensive infrastructure projects in EU partner countries which are covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in sectors such as transport, energy, environment and social development. The NIF also supports the private sector, mainly through investment grants and risk-capital operations targeting small and medium-sized enterprises.