The team of the USAID Municipal Energy Reform Project in Ukraine (USAID Project) participated in the industrial fair and forum "Independent Heat & Power Engineering 2017" held in Kyiv on April 11-12 with support of the State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine (SAEE). During the official opening ceremony of the event which gathered in total over 4,000 guests and participants, Diana Korsakaite, Chief of Party of the USAID Project, noted that the issue of strengthening of Ukraine’s energy independence is more than ever relevant today:

"Not only increase of investments in the energy sector and energy efficiency development but also improvement of the state policy depend today on proactive position of each of us. In cooperation with the Government of Ukraine, the experts of the USAID Project helped develop a number of important legislative documents and supported their subsequent adoption. Moreover, thanks to the joint work of the international community and Ukrainian specialists, the package of draft laws on energy efficiency was developed. They are aimed at improving the reform of the housing and communal services sector, open the way to full metering of communal services, build the foundation for energy efficiency improvement in the housing sector."

After the opening, Ms. Korsakaite also led a discussion on "Prospects for Competitive Heat Market in Ukraine" and presented the EU experience in this area. In addition to other experts, Georgii Geletukha, USAID Project consultant, also joined the discussion and presented to the audience the Concept of Introduction of Competition in District Heating of Ukraine which has developed by the expert community with the SAEE experts.

Also the brochures "Green Energy” Development: Legislative Initiatives, Prospects and International Experience" and "Energy Saving: What to Do and Where to Get Money?” were presented at the exhibition. They were created by the USAID Project in cooperation with the SAEE to promote energy efficiency measures and clean energy projects. The brochures contain information on the key draft laws called to incentivize development of alternative energy sources in Ukraine, on the key energy efficiency measures that can be implemented in multi-apartment buildings, as well as on the state "warm loans" program and the banks that provide these loans. During the exhibition, the partners distributed 8,000 copies of these materials.