Mariupol has received EUR 18 million as credit and grant funds from European partners. A part of them, in the amount of EUR 3 million, is a non-returnable grant from the Eastern European Partnership for Energy Efficiency and the Environment (E5R) project. In addition to the development of transport infrastructure, investments will make it possible to improve an ecological situation in Mariupol.
To date, one of the global environmental problems facing large cities is the high level of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere due to the high load of highways. One of the ways of solving this problem is a complex transition to electric transport. This practice is actively used in developed EU cities.
‘Mariupol is a city that focuses on the future in its desire to become ‘green’. Our project will allow the city to approach the goal to improve an everyday life of citizens and reduce the environmental burden,’ the manager of the E5P fund Anders Lund said.
For his part, Vadim Boichenko stressed that the city began to deal with ecology issues in a comprehensive way: ‘We are aimed at making Mariupol a ‘green’ city. After all, this title is a high level of people's quality of life and this is the main thing for us. Due to the increase in the share of electric transport, we will reduce negative emissions to the atmosphere. This is one of the serious directions in matters of improving the environment’.
The E5P is a multi-donor fund of EUR 180 million, established during the Swedish presidency of the European Union in 2009 to stimulate investment in municipal energy efficiency and environmental projects in the Eastern Partnership region. The E5P Fund accumulates financial contributions from the European Union and groups from 21 countries, including countries receiving assistance from the fund. These contributions are sent in the form of grants to facilitate the implementation of projects in the municipal sphere.