Kryvyi Rih is a city in Dnipropetrovsk oblast. Its area is over 430 km2. As of 1 January 2016, its population was 645,100 persons, and it covered an area of over 430 km2. The city cooperates with international technical assistance projects in a variety of sectors (including municipal infrastructure improvement). Kryvyi Rih partners with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), German Agency of International Cooperation (GIZ), Nordic Environmental Financial Corporation (NEFCO) and others. The Kryvyi Rih City Council includes an Energy Management and Energy Saving Technologies Unit.
Since 28 September 2011, Kryvyi Rih has officially supported the leading European Union initiative – "Covenant of Mayors". Signatories commit to reducing their CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020, thus contributing to the development of an environmentally oriented economy and improving their cities’ quality of life.
In 2014, after signing of the relevant Memorandum, cooperation between the city and the USAID Municipal Energy Reform Project in Ukraine (hereinafter – the USAID Project) started. The Memorandum identified four main areas of work for improving municipal energy efficiency and raising funds to finance the relevant measures:
1) supporting the development of the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP);
2) assistance in attracting investors;
3) conducting information campaigns; and