Ukraine’s recovery should be based on the guiding principle of the European climate and energy policy “Energy Efficiency first”. This is stipulated by the Law of Ukraine "On Energy Efficiency" and corresponds to the European integration course of the country.

It was emphasized by Maria Malaia - the First Deputy Head of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine (SAEE) at the discussion "Post-war modernization of Ukrainian cities and communities: more ecological, energy efficient and resistant to climate change” on the platform of the pavilion of Ukraine within the framework of the UN Climate Change Conference COP 27.

"Today we, Ukrainians, are trying to overcome and survive the biggest energy crisis, but we are living with the idea of the future recovery and development of our country. The approach to reconstruction should be systematic and include both cross-sectoral and sectoral measures of energy efficiency and decarbonization for different sectors of the national economy and administration levels", Maria Malaia explained.

Today, Ukraine has moved to modern European practices of energy efficiency policy.

With the participation of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine (SAEE), work is being carried out to create conditions to implement such inter-sectoral energy efficiency measures as energy management, energy  performance contracting, energy audit, energy efficiency purchases, eco-design and others.

For example, the implementation of energy management systems is the most effective in terms of the ratio of investments and results. After all, without large-scale financial investments, it is possible to reduce energy consumption by 5-15%.

The obligatory place in the process of reconstruction should be found in branch measures of energy efficiency and decarbonization.

In particular, the transformation of the energy sector should include not only the replacement of destroyed energy generating capacities and increased use of renewable sources, but also the creation of entire energy clusters.

For example, bioenergy should be developed in synergy with other types of renewable energy, agriculture, energy-efficient production, taking into account the potential of the regions.

For industry development and decarbonization, it is necessary to build industrial parks. The relevant law is already in force in Ukraine.

In the process of building reconstruction, attention should be paid to the construction of NZEB-houses (with close to zero energy consumption). Our task is to create a new climate-neutral generation, primarily of public buildings.

"Obviously, the restoration of Ukraine, on the one hand, is a real challenge for all Ukrainians, and on the other hand, it is a huge opportunity to build an energy-independent and climate-neutral economy, which we cannot afford to miss," Maria Malaya stressed.

Communication and PR Department