World Bank to provide another $116 mln grant to support heating system in Ukraine – bank repr at URC2025
The World Bank plans to announce during the URC2025 the provision of $116 million in grant financing to support the heating system of Kharkiv, as well as six other cities, said Sevara Melibaeva, Program Leader for Infrastructure and Sustainable Development for Eastern Europe.
"At the URC, we are going to announce an expansion of support, providing an additional $116 million in grant funding to Kharkiv to continue supporting the heating sector, as well as to six other cities together with the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development," Melibaeva said during a panel discussion on investing in energy sustainability and the recovery of Ukraine within the framework of the URC2025 in Rome on Wednesday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports from the scene.
She added that in December 2025, 12 mobile cogeneration units with a total capacity of about 60 MW and container boiler houses with a capacity of 200 MW had already been delivered to Kharkiv with the assistance of the World Bank.
Melibaeva called this an alternative to meet the needs of the population, since large thermal power plants are currently beyond repair (after the attacks by the Russian Federation).
According to her, support for Ukraine is also determined by the planned financing through grants and loans to PrJSC Ukrhydroenergo in the amount of $70 million from the Green Technologies Fund for the scaling of battery energy storage. In addition, there is a provision of 29 transformers to Ukrenergo for approximately $100 million in grant funding, as well as providing approximately $100 million in grant funding to support and protect these transformers and substations.
She mentioned, among other things, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), noting that it signed debt financing in the amount of EUR370 million for the construction of new offshore wind farms with a capacity of approximately 350 MW, and is financing an additional pilot project for battery energy storage of 10 MW in western Ukraine. Melibaeva did not provide details.
As reported, on April 25, 2025, Ukrhydroenergo and the World Bank signed a financing and guarantee agreement for the project "Additional Financing of the Improving Power System Resilience for European Power Grid Integration Project" (installation of hybrid power generation systems at Ukrhydroenergo) for $70 million.