EU provides EUR 4 million to establish new Home Owners Associations in Ukraine

November 30, 2018

An estimated 480,000 Ukrainians will have more energy-efficient houses through a new EU - UNDP initiative in Ukraine. Photo: UNDP

The European Union, jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), launched a two-year project to support the creation of Home Owners Associations (HOAs) throughout Ukraine's 24 regions. At least 2,000 new HOAs will be created, and a total of 4,000 HOAs will be taught how to manage their associations and develop energy efficiency projects for funding by the Ukrainian Energy Efficiency Fund. An estimated 480,000 Ukrainians will benefit while about one million people will be more aware about energy efficiency.

The funding of EUR 4 million is provided by the EU within the Energy Efficiency Support Programme for Ukraine (EE4U). UNDP will provide the technical assistance throughout the project.

“The housing sector in Ukraine is energy inefficient due to its outdated equipment and housing stock, which poses serious challenges for many households still living in obsolete, unsafe or unsuitable buildings, said Janthomas Hiemstra, UNDP Ukraine Country Director.“To contribute to the sustainable development of cities and communities, as well as to meet people’s needs for quality housing, UNDP is starting the implementation of a new project to mobilize home-owners communities in Ukraine and help them improve the energy efficiency of their housing blocks, thereby reducing energy consumption and costs,” Hiemstra added.

The EU supports the setup of the Ukrainian Energy Efficiency Fund. We strongly believe that its programmes will convince and support Ukrainians in taking greater energy responsibility for their dwellings and help them to reduce their energy bills. They will have to be mobilised and supported in this endeavour. Therefore, an extended awareness-raising campaign aimed at supporting HOAs will be deployed in all the regions,” said Stefan Schleuning, Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.

Over its two-year run, the project will organise a public information campaign at the national, regional and local levels to inform the general public and local communities about the new legislation on energy efficiency, the programmes of the Energy Efficiency Fund, and its financing mechanisms. The project will also carry out a series of group and individual consultations with active home owners who want to set up HOAs, pre-existing HOAs, and local authorities on establishing HOAs, on book-keeping and financial management, and on how to seek and obtain financing for their home improvement projects.

Background information:

The European Commission has adopted the Energy Efficiency Support Programme for Ukraine (EE4U) aimed at contributing to increasing energy efficiency in the Ukrainian residential sector and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, the EU, together with Germany, will support the activities of the Energy Efficiency Fund in providing grants for thermo-modernisation of multi-apartment buildings across Ukraine. Through the two phases of this Programme, the EU will contribute in total EUR 80 million of grants for HOAs as well as more than a EUR 22 million package of technical assistance (managed mainly by the International Finance Corporation – IFC – and UNDP).

The residential sector in Ukraine is three to four times less energy efficient than in the neighbouring EU countries with a similar climate and consumes around 40% of the country’s energy. A total of 70% of flats in multi-apartment buildings housing approximately 34 million people are highly energy inefficient.

For additional information, please contact Yuliia Samus, Communications Specialist, UNDP Ukraine: +38 097 139 14 75, Yuliia.Samus@undp.org