A little more than a month is left before the heating season starts, but Ukraine’s dialogue with its main supplier of natural gas is becoming increasingly exasperated. And while the politicians are trying to resolve the conflict diplomatically, experts of the energy market add heat to the debate arguing that Ukraine needs to strengthen its energy sovereignty. Thus, on the eve of the anticipated energy war with Russia which might start, in fact, due to the Ukrainian government’s declaration of intent to reduce the consumption of Russian gas to 27 billion cubic meters of gas (from 40 billion cubic meters in 2011), there are those who continue to advise Ukrainians to reduce their natural gas consumption.
“Saving heat, you save Ukraine!” is the motto of the ongoing joint Ukraine-US project “Municipal Heating Reform in Ukraine” (MHR) that started in February 2009. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) in cooperation with Ukraine’s Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services funds energy efficiency projects in Ukraine. American money pays for the informational and educational campaign that teaches Ukrainians to save heat and introduces local officials to the concepts of energy audit and energy planning that are elements of long-established practice in developed countries. Recently, the results of introducing municipal energy planning (MEP) procedure, never before used in Ukraine, in more than 20 cities of Ukraine were presented within the framework of the aforementioned MHR project. Development of municipal energy plans has long been a mandatory practice in all European countries. MEP is a comprehensive program that addresses issues of energy supply, energy procurement and energy consumption in the city and is adopted by the city council for the medium term (five years). Its objective is to ensure sustainable energy development of the city along with lowering overall energy use.
