Today, November 23, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna met with a delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) led by EBRD Vice President Alain Pilloux and the newly appointed EBRD Vice President for Policy and Partnership Mark Bowman.

The parties discussed the implementation of current cooperation projects with the EBRD, as well as prospects for further cooperation in the context of supporting by Ukraine of the implementation of the European Green Deal and the fulfillment of commitments to reduce carbon emissions.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that combating climate change requires more intensive international coordination and support, as well as strengthening cooperation between the Government, business and international financial organizations.

"We are grateful for the consistent support of the EBRD and already have successful examples of cooperation. The EBRD's support is extremely important for bringing about qualitative changes in Ukraine, - said Olha Stefanishyna. - Now the whole world is on the verge of global change to save the planet for future generations. The recent climate debate at the UN Conference in Glasgow gathered participants to raise the issue of green policy to an even higher level. For Ukraine, this means about 10 billion euros for green transformation annually over the next decade. It is crucial to work with the UN Green Climate Fund to gain greater access to financial resources for greenhouse gas reduction projects. We count on the active support of the EBRD in this matter."

In particular, she stressed that Ukraine proposes to consider the possibility of wider support of the EBRD in the implementation of infrastructure projects in the energy efficiency sector and co-financing of decarbonization in the areas of the hydrogen economy and renewable energy.

"Given the success of an instrument such as the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership Fund (E5P), we are ready to initiate negotiations to continue the work of the Fund to invest in the private sector, which also aims at decarbonization. The EBRD can play a key role in that," added Olha Stefanishyna.

The Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine also raised the issue of gender equality and informed the partners about the upcoming action dedicated to 16 days against violence, which will begin on November 25 and last until December 10. She stressed that she greatly appreciates the attention of international organizations to combating domestic and gender-based violence and suggested launching programs to support women entrepreneurs suffering from economic domestic violence. In such cases, women could receive available financial resources to develop their own businesses.