German green investment fund for Ukraine could start operations in 2023 - Global 100% RE Ukraine director

MOSCOW. April 10 (Interfax) - The German government plans to set up a green renewal fund for Ukraine to support green transformation investment projects, Alexei Korchmit, director of Global 100% RE Ukraine and board chairman of the Ukrainian Association of Energy Service Companies, said.

"The Ukrainian-German Energy Partnership [which is aimed at supporting an intergovernmental energy dialogue] informed us of the German government's unambiguous opinion that it wishes to set up a green renewal fund for Ukraine, that is, a green fund, and direct German investments there in support of green transformation," Ukrainian media quoted Korchmit as saying at a press conference of the Global 100% RE Ukraine platform for signing a cooperation agreement with the German renewable energy associations in Kiev.

This fund might be set up as early as in June 2023 and, in the view of German partners, should be based on co-financing and providing return on investment guarantees, Korchmit said.

"We should manifest a certain partnership mechanism [...] If there's no co-financing, our German counterparts won't believe us. They want two things, namely co-financing and return on investment guarantees," he said.

On March 29, Global 100% RE Ukraine, 2023 signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with Germany's largest renewable energy association, Bundesverband Erneuerbare Energie, which comprises Fachverband Biogas e.V, German Wind Energy Association, and BSW Solar as its associated members.

The memorandum's key goals include establishing and maintaining permanent contacts and strengthening cooperation between Germany and Ukraine on renewable energy and climate and for developing measures to protect the environment, stop climate change, accelerate the green transition, and develop the export potential of green sectors of the Ukrainian economy.