Reform of the District Heating Sector in Ukraine (ReWarm)

State of implementation/results

• The gap study on district heating regulations between the EU and Ukraine was welcomed by the State Agency of Energy Efficiency (SAEE) and accepted in terms of content.
• The Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine (MinDevelopment) has established a working group on decarbonisation involving all relevant stakeholders in Ukraine.
• The study on the comparative policy analysis of district heating regulations in eastern Germany, Poland, Czechia, Latvia, and Slovakia will be completed in the summer of 2026.
• The decarbonisation study for the city Chernihiv was presented to MinDevelopment. The study for Kryvyi Rih is nearing completion.
• In August 2025, a high-profile nationwide district heating forum was organised and held in Cherkasy, including GIZ participation in panel discussions.
• Nationwide specialist events in a hybrid format were held in 2025. The specialist event on tariffs led to multi-day training sessions in Lviv (December 2025) and Vinnytsia (February 2026). A number of district heating companies are planning to introduce dual-tariff contracts.
• The specialist event on the financing of district heating investments has led to applications being submitted to the relevant Ukrainian banks, which are processing the loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Danish EIFO Bank.
• The EIB has earmarked EUR 250 million in loans for the district heating sector in Ukraine. The pilot cities are being supported in reviewing such financing.
• Planning for the refurbishment of a heating plant in Zviahel is nearing completion and serves as an example of how CO2 emissions can be drastically reduced and the old, excessive generation capacity cut back.
• The digital, freely accessible district heating library of the Yaroslav Mudryi National Library is publicly available at rewarm.nlu.org.ua.
• A number of presentations were given, including on 20.08.25, as part of an event organised by the Rotary Club, on 19.12.25 at a scientific conference in Ukraine, and on 05.02.26 as part of the WASH- Cluster’s session on Geographic Information Systems.
• In May 2025, a study trip to Lithuania and in September 2025 to Saxony-Anhalt were organised for representatives of municipalities and in cooperation with the Ecoclub Rivne on the transformation of district heating after 1990.
• Support was given to GIZ activities for “Winter Aid Ukraine” in 2024 and 2025 (BMZ initiative), which resulted, among other things, in the procurement of batteries as well as solar power systems, heat distribution units in hospitals and water leak detection systems for the district heating sector especially in the ReWarm pilot municipalities.
• On 05.07.2024 the MoU between MinDevelopment, SAEE, and the selected pilot cities of Kyiv, Odessa, Kryvyi Rih, and Zviahel was also signed with Chernihiv and Cherkasy.
• Working groups were set up in the cities and regular discussions were held on the implementation of long-term district heating plans.

Latest Update:
05/2026