UNOPS and World Bank support critical energy services in Kharkiv

As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year, communities across the country are grappling with the reality of regular aerial attacks, which leave essential services, such as heating, disrupted.

In Kharkiv, a city of over 1.4 million people before the war, located just a dozen kilometres from the border with Russia, damage and destruction have become part of everyday reality. Utility workers are constantly faced with the need to mitigate harm to the systems they maintain, so that homes and public spaces can stay warm.

With funding from the World Bank’s Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF), since mid-December 2024, UNOPS has been delivering essential equipment and materials for the city’s heating company under a project called RePOWER. The shipments have included equipment to help decentralize the heating system and facilitate repairs.

“With constant Russian attacks targeting energy infrastructure, we are very mindful of having to keep a large stock of materials for repairs,” says Maksym Lenchyk, first deputy Director at Kharkiv Heating Networks. “We are also actively decentralising generation, increasing resilience. The items provided with funding from the World Bank give us the tools we need to keep serving the people of Kharkiv well.”

Deliveries will continue over the next few months, as the winter season comes to an end, and the summer maintenance season for the heating system begins.

“The World Bank has been a key partner for the government of Ukraine, addressing critical needs in the sectors of infrastructure and energy,” notes Kostiantyn Kovalchuk, Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine. “We appreciate the support provided by UNOPS under this project and look forward to continuing our cooperation.”

The project builds on the partnership between UNOPS and the World Bank in Ukraine, which started in 2023 under the RELINC project. RELINC helped mitigate the impact of disrupted transportation networks on the national economy. Under RePOWER, the focus is on community-level heating services.

“At UNOPS, we keep stressing how assistance to Ukraine’s communities needs to be two-fold: addressing urgent needs while laying the foundation for sustainable development,” comments Massimo Diana, UNOPS Ukraine Multi-Country Office Director. “This project achieves both: we are providing Kharkiv with what it needs to maintain its heating grid, but also helping decentralise it, increasing resilience and improving quality far beyond the context of the war.”