Six Ukrainian companies have been chosen as recipients of Climate Innovation Vouchers (CIVs), a new scheme aimed at the development and improvement of technologies reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improving energy consumption in Ukraine, according to The Financial.
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:
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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.
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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.