OREANDA-NEWS. April 06, 2010. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Kurakhovo Municipality, DTEK and ‘Municipal Heat Supply System Reforming in Ukraine’ Project. The document is to resolve one of the most relevant problems of Kurakhovo – inefficient municipal heat supply system. The Project specialists will perform energy audit of the heat supply system. In its turn, DTEK will provide for a part of funds for reconstruction of the top-priority sections. The amount allocated by DTEK for these purposes will total UAH 1 m in 2010.
 
Sergey Kordashenko, HR and Corporate Communications Director of DTEK, William Thacker, the Manager of ‘Municipal Heat Supply System Reforming in Ukraine’ Project, Andrey Nesterenko, the Specialist for USAID energy and infrastructure projects management, and Nadezhda Tkachuk, the Secretary of Kurakhovo Municipality, were present when signing the Memorandum.
 
In the course of trilateral cooperation the parties will combine the experience of the specialists of ‘Municipal Heat Supply System Reforming in Ukraine’ Project, organizational and investment potential of DTEK and the town authorities’ efforts in order to reform the heat supply system in Kurakhovo. As a part of energy audit, it is planned to introduce energy planning and energy efficiency system in the centralized municipal heat supply sector; a campaign will be arranged to inform the community of the efficient energy supply. Besides, the financial resources allocated by DTEK will enable reconstruction of the top-priority heat supply system sections taking into consideration energy audit recommendations.
 
Kurakhovo became the first town in terms of cooperation between ‘Municipal Heat Supply System Reforming in Ukraine’ Project and DTEK selected for public-private partnership for improvement of heat supply services and energy efficiency. Such decision was made early 2010 during the discussions between the administration of Kurakhovo municipality, ‘Municipal Heat Supply System Reforming in Ukraine’ Project and DTEK. The need for comprehensive approach to reforming the system of municipal heat supply is conditioned by obsolete equipment and critical wear of heat supply systems, lack of investments and public interest in saving the energy resources and complete payment for them.
 
‘The problem of heat supply is one of the most painful and weighty issues in the town today. Unfortunately, the municipal authorities are not able to resolve it independently. That is why the assistance of DTEK and ‘Municipal Heat Supply System Reforming in Ukraine’ Project’ is of great importance for us. We hope that energy audit will help us to perform reconstruction competently and thus to improve the municipal heat supply’, stressed Nadezhda Tkachuk, the Secretary of Kurakhovo Municipality.