By TBILISI. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – In the first week since its opening, the Energy Efficiency Fund of Ukraine received about 25 applications from homeowner associations for participation in a pilot program for the restoration of housing with a budget of EUR 5 million provided by the European Union, Fund Director Yehor Fareniuk has said.
"We have already received 25 applications for participation in the housing reconstruction program in the first week. This is a pilot project funded by the EU. At this stage, the budget is EUR 5 million and provides for full compensation for repairs to apartment buildings damaged by Russian shelling," Fareniuk said during the conference dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Covenant of Mayors in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Region, held in Tbilisi on Tuesday.
As he told an Interfax-Ukraine journalist on the sidelines of the conference, the fund will accept applications until the money provided by the EU under the project is exhausted.
According to his calculations, the average cost of housing restoration projects is UAH 2.8 million.
Fareniuk added that a homeowner association receives 70% of the project cost in advance after the first application is submitted, which, according to the conditions, shall include the decision of the homeowner association meeting of at least 51% of the votes to participate in the program, a technical survey report, an evaluation report, an agreement with a contractor, and upon completion of the project, which shall be completed within six months from the date of receipt of the first tranche, the balance of its cost is paid. At the same time, Fareniuk said that the final amount could be reduced based on the actual results of the implementation of the particular project.
At the same time, the head of the Energy Efficiency Fund said that during the war, 65 housing modernization projects were completed and another 77 projects are under completion, applications for which were submitted before February 24.
"In total, we have 228 completed projects, most of which have been completed or are being completed after the start of the war. We continue financing applications submitted before the war," Fareniuk said.
The Covenant of Mayors is a movement for local climate and energy conservation, bringing together 11,000 local and regional governments from 55 countries. One of the directions of the global agreement is the Covenant of Mayors in the Eastern Partnership Region, which activities are funded by the EU. Mayors of the cities of Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine joined the Covenant of Mayors-EaP. Belarus, which also joined the project 10 years ago, is not participating in the current anniversary conference because of its support for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
