The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) would provide an 30 million euro loan to Ukraine for energy-efficiency investments in higher education institutions.
NEFCO and the Finance Ministry of Ukraine signed the relevant agreement on December 19, they said in their press releases.
The project concerns the refurbishment of existing teaching, research and supporting facilities at various state higher education institutions in several cities to improve their energy efficiency and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, the creditor said.
According to the press release of NEFCO, the initial phase of the project will involve seven universities in Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, Sumy and Vinnytsia. At a later stage, more institutions will be selected for the implementation of energy-efficiency improvements.
The work is expected to start in 2018 and to be completed by the end of 2022, and the total costs for the investments are estimated at 160 million euro.
Improvements will be made to the building envelopes, heating and ventilation systems, and lighting. The improvements are expected to extend the life cycle of the buildings by on average 30 years and to substantially reduce the energy consumption and CO2 emissions as well as help to save costs.
NEFCO’s loan to Ukraine is partially guaranteed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The project will also receive a loan from the European Investment Bank, which is the lead financier. In addition to the loan financing, the project will receive grants from the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P), the EU Neighbourhood Investment Facility and the Nordic Environmental Development Fund.
NEFCO is an international financial institution established by the Nordic Governments in 1990. NEFCO provides results-based green financing.
