To improve the energy efficiency of Ukrainian businesses affected by hostilities in Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions, we announce a small grant competition.

The small grants competition will be held within the framework of the Power Up! Project, which is supported by the program Promotion of Energy Efficiency and Implementation of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive in Ukraine funded by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and co-financed by State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

The primary objective of the Power Up! project is to promote Ukraine recovery in line with energy best practices through implementing and sharing energy-efficient solutions for both government and business.

Grants will be awarded to enable 10 shortlisted enterprises affected by the war in Sumy, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions to restore production capacity and reduce energy consumption.

The key objective of the small grant competition is to improve energy efficiency of selected enterprises through equipment purchase.

Grants can be used solely for implementing energy efficiency measures to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. As a result of the grant projects, 10 selected business companies are expected to save up to 3,000 MW/year in energy consumption.

The small grant competition is open to applicants that are:

• Duly registered as a legal entity, established and operating in one of the following organizational and legal forms in accordance with the applicable Ukrainian legislation:
  – Business entity (limited liability company, additional liability company, general partnership, joint stock company);
  – Municipal enterprise.
• Located/operate in Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions.
• Affected by military operations and have documentary evidence of direct impact (destruction and/or damage to the company’s property) or indirect impact (reduction of production capacity).
• Owned by citizens of Ukraine (all of a legal entity’s ultimate beneficial owners must be citizens of Ukraine).
• Not located/ not economically active in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, as of the date of application submission. The temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine shall deem such that is included in the List of territories maintained by the Ministry of Reintegration of Ukraine to itemize all territories where military operations are ongoing, have been ongoing, or which are temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation.
• Not economically active / have no subsidiaries in the territory of the Russian Federation and/or the Republic of Belarus and other countries under sanctions.
• Not owned by legal entities or individuals subject to special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) by decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, enacted by the Decree of the President of Ukraine on the application of personal (special) economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Sanctions”.
• Not subject to any bankruptcy proceedings pending and/or not declared bankrupt and/or not in the process of liquidation.
• Not being a defendant in court or in enforcement proceedings for a corruption offense.

Applicants shall not be eligible for this small grant competition, if they are:

• Business entities located and/or operating in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine as of September 06, 2023.
• Operating in the territory of the Russian Federation.
• Included in the list of sanctions against legal entities or individuals in accordance with the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine approved by the Decree of the President of Ukraine on the application of special personal economic and other sanctions in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Sanctions”.
• Undergoing the process of liquidation or bankruptcy.
• Defendants in court or in enforcement proceedings regarding corruption offenses.

Evaluation Criteria for Applications:

1. Exceptional Criterion: enterprises located in Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions significantly affected by hostilities are eligible to apply if they have documentary evidence of direct impact (destruction and/or damage to the company’s property) or indirect impact (reduced production capacity) at the time of application.
2. Basic Evaluation Criteria:

• Application compliance with the terms and objectives of this competition (project compliance with the terms and objectives of the competition, clarity of the project description and selected approach).
• Prospective energy savings (annual energy savings should be no less than 300 MW/year).
• Specific energy savings per grant euro, MWh/year/euro.
• Attraction of an applicant’s own funds, % of the total cost.
• Social role of the enterprise in the community (the enterprise has a positive impact on the socio-economic development of the community).

Maximum Grant Amount: up to UAH 1,000,000 for one enterprise.

Number of Grants: up to 10 projects are planned to be supported within the competition.

Expected Duration of Grant Projects: 1-2.5 months.

Expected start of activities: November 2023.

How to apply?

Applicant organizations must fill out and submit:

1. Application form (clickable link)
2. Project budget (clickable link)
3. Questionnaire (clickable link)

Project activities may be carried out in the following areas:

• Purchase of equipment to improve the energy efficiency of an enterprise that has suffered damage because of the Russian invasion.

Project expenses can be allocated to:

• Purchase of equipment to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
• Delivery/installation/assembly of equipment.

The list of costs that cannot be supported by the Foundation is contained in the Project Budget template. All procurements shall be made in compliance with the Foundation’s tender requirements (to be provided to the winners of the competition).

Project activities shall only be carried out in the target areas of the project.

East Europe Foundation reserves the right not to provide funding if the quality of project applications does not meet the terms of the competition.

Please note:

• Grants cannot be awarded to state-owned enterprises, individual entrepreneurs, public organizations, political parties, religious organizations, institutions, and individuals within the framework of this competition.
• Application must be submitted in Ukrainian.
• Applicants will be notified of the results of their application consideration in writing by e-mail.
• Interviews with selected companies may be conducted online.
• Competition board decision shall be final and not subject to review.
• Submitted applications shall not be returned or reviewed.

Deadline for Applications: September 25, 2023, by 23:59.

The results of the competition will be announced before October 09, 2023.

All applications should be sent to the address: project_en@eef.org.ua with a note: “Power Up! // Application for small grants”.

Questions regarding this call for grant applications may be sent to Yuliia Smahliukova, Program Officer at East Europe Foundation, to the address: project_en@eef.org.ua by September 25, 2023.