Credit: Kateryna Mostova
On Wednesday 5 March 2025, as part of the third Ukraine Resilience Business Forum, organised by the Luxembourg-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce (LUCC), a panel discussion took place on the topic of “Ensuring Energy Resilience”.
The discussion, moderated by Oleksandr Kurdydyk, Partner at the global law firm DLA Piper, featured distinguished speakers including the Mayor of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, Head of the European Commission Representation in Luxembourg, Anne Calteux, Principal Advisor at the European Investment Bank (EIB), Violaine Silvestro Von Kameke, and Yannick Motz from the Sustainable Finance Unit within the Energy and Climate Portfolio at GIZ Ukraine.
Mayor Terekhov emphasised the urgent need for energy independence in Kharkiv, as the city remains under daily attacks from Russian forces, which launch missiles and drones targeting its infrastructure. With over a million residents still in the city, ensuring a stable supply of electricity and heating remains a top priority. “Currently, Kharkiv is under constant shelling. We fully understand that Russian forces attack the city daily. If we look at the statistics of strikes on Kharkiv, we see that residential buildings, industrial enterprises, and critical infrastructure are primarily targeted - none of which are military objects. It is crucial that all international organisations clearly understand what Russia is attacking,” he stated.
According to Mayor Terekhov, the primary goal is to make Kharkiv energy-independent, leading to plans to create an “energy island” for the city. He said: “Looking ahead, our calculations show that we need to install 140 units, including gas turbine and cogeneration systems. We are also equipping Kharkiv with modular boiler stations. Additionally, we are working on an independent power supply system for the metro, and we have already made progress in this area. An independent supply system for city electric transport is another challenge. The metro is a contained system, so we understand how to implement this and have a clear action plan. However, the electric transport system spans the entire city, requiring power for numerous traction substations. This is a significant challenge, but I am confident we will overcome it.”
Anne Calteux, Head of the European Commission Representation in Luxembourg, reaffirmed that support and investment in Ukraine will continue: “We want you to become a valuable member of the European Union. […] What we want is […] to continue to support you. We have provided financial, humanitarian, economic and political support, and energy support is really one of the strategic supports we would like to continue to provide. We know that Russia has weaponised Ukrainian energy, and we, as the European Union, have also witnessed that ourselves. […] We know that Russia wants to destabilise Ukrainian society, and you have explained very well how this affects people’s daily lives. So we know this is all part of a broader strategy to destabilise Ukraine, Europe, and the international rules-based order. That is why we are highly motivated to help you with regard to energy resilience.”
Anne Calteux also highlighted the measures announced by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on 24 February 2025 during a meeting in Kyiv. These include: full integration of the electricity market between Ukraine and the European Union by spring 2027; assistance in funding gas purchases via the Ukraine Facility Fund, which holds €50 billion; increased investment in renewable energy. “This effort[…] will contribute to our global security and also provide security guarantees for Ukraine on its path towards peace,” noted Anne Calteux.
Violaine Silvestro Von Kameke, Principal Advisor at the EIB, highlighted the Energy Rescue Plan, launched by the EIB in October 2024, which includes an additional €86 million to further protect Ukraine’s energy systems. She explained: “We're also working on HydroEnergo and preparing investments to ensure Ukraine's energy independence with renewable energy, which is completely local.”
She also discussed collaboration with local communities under the Ukraine Recovery Programme: “We are now executing the third phase of the programme, and at the beginning, progress was quite slow, I must admit. The first phase, I think, took four years, progressing in several stages to establish our first school. But now, things are moving much faster. Now, we are delivering a hospital or a school every two weeks. […] Every two weeks, which means that by the end of the year, we will have another 20 inaugurations and many more next year. We’re working on 400 projects, and now, in collaboration with the ministries, we have developed a streamlined and efficient process. One of the pillars of this initiative is energy efficiency and district heating, and we are actively supporting communities with this.”
Yannick Motz, representing the technical assistance provider GIZ for the German government, discussed projects focused on decentralised energy systems. “The clusters of activities in these projects, for instance, together with the city of Kharkiv, we've installed a co-generation unit, and we assist and cooperate closely with the municipalities, as mentioned earlier. Through this initiative, we have managed to provide roughly 2.5 million people with heat and electricity over the last years,” he said. “Additionally, through a donation campaign we are running on behalf of the government, an extra 1.1 million people have been supplied with heat and electricity since the war started.”
Yannick Motz also shared insights into how collaboration with communities takes place and the benefits it brings: “There are three fundamental pillars. One relates to the generation and production of energy and the energy supply. And here, renewables have a lot of potential, as we said earlier. Why? Because if installed at a decentralised level, this is something that will sustain regardless of how this terrible war continues. It is the people in the communities and municipalities who will benefit from it primarily."
He further explained: "The second pillar […] is the consumption side, where we were personally involved, as we discussed earlier, focusing on energy efficiency. We heard it from the mayor - the building sector, rebuilding homes and houses, also presents an opportunity to improve energy efficiency, which reduces consumption - a crucial factor when looking at resilience. The third pillar is related to skills. […] We realised that once we assist a community in going through the whole process of applying for funding, setting up the project, installing it and maintaining it, this knowledge is passed on. It acts as a multiplier. So, if we repeat this process more frequently, municipalities will be able to develop the skill set, knowledge and expertise required for these types of approaches.”
All of the speakers at this panel discussion emphasised the continuation of cooperation with Ukrainian partners to support and rebuild the country. They highlighted their shared commitment to freedom, liberty and democracy, underscoring the importance of standing together in the face of ongoing challenges.
To read about the opening ceremony of the third Ukraine Resilience Business Forum, see https://chronicle.lu/category/other-business-chambers/53753-luxembourg-hosts-3rd-ukraine-resilience-business-forum-to-strengthen-economic-security-cooperation
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