Earlier this month six Ukraine-based companies received ‘climate innovation vouchers’ (CIVs). Offered by the EU and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), these vouchers are intended to cover 75% of eligible costs (up to €50,000) related to developing high tech solutions addressing climate change.
The beneficiaries were:
- The Good Plastic Company, which offers recycled and recyclable construction and decor panels with “the lowest ecological footprint possible;”
- Ekodar Architecture Studio, whose digital twin technology allows to scale energy-efficient and environment-friendly building projects;
- Enzym, Ukraine’s leading yeast producer, which claims to cover about 70% of its energy needs by utilizing biogas derived from wastewater treatment;
- Pipes.One (Dominion LLC), which has designed an innovative, trailer-based mobile pipe plant to eliminate the emissions-intensive transportation of pipes from production facilities to construction sites;
- Viva Victoria, which offers remote climate control systems for greenhouses;
The Laboratory of Advanced Jet Propulsion (LAJP), a rocket propulsion R&D company, which is developing a full-sized drone for the aerial application of pesticides or fertilizers as a substitute to obsolete agricultural Antonov An-2 aircraft.
The CIV program was initiated by the EBRD’s Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC), which is funded by the EU through its EU4Climate initiative.
Since 2017, where the program started in Ukraine, some 28 local companies have received €1 million in total. A consortium led by a Greencubator, a non-profit for sustainable entrepreneurship, with the participation of management consulting firm CIVITTA, is running the program.
Source: EBRD
