The E5P at 15

Fifteen years ago, Poland and Sweden had a vision for closer cooperation and a more sustainable future in Eastern Europe. This vision materialised under the Swedish presidency of the European Union (EU) in 2009 as the bloc's new Eastern Partnership initiative and the creation of the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) Fund.

The E5P Fund was formed to underpin investments to promote energy efficiency, environmental protection and the social dimension of economic transition in EU Eastern Partnership region. Today, as the E5P celebrates its 15th anniversary at the headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), we can see the transformative impact through E5P co-financed projects.

The E5P's vital solution in times of crisis

For the past 15 years, the E5P has been working to change cities and lives in countless ways. It has proved essential in a part of the world where crisis is showing little sign of abating. At the top of the E5P agenda are Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova, for which growing donor support has enabled the Fund to undertake projects to meet people's immediate needs.

Take district heating: The E5P has supported life-saving upgrades to local heating systems in Ukraine, helping millions to remain warm and safe in a country where energy infrastructure is a constant target in Russia's war of aggression. The Fund has provided almost a thousand individual heating substations to regulate and save heating supplies.

In the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, E5P has not only upgraded heating systems in schools, kindergartens and healthcare centres but has also financed ventilation measures in bomb shelters for the children as the city is under heavy bombardment.

Similarly, in Moldova, where winter temperatures dip to minus 20 degrees, the E5P's efforts have been life-changing for families such as that of Susanna in the city of Bălți.

"After the new heating was connected, we started to pay less. The difference was 30%. The money I save now goes toward clothes for my children," she says. Her story highlights the E5P's most powerful result: the ability to offer families control, comfort and relief from financial strain.

Changing landscapes, changing lives

The E5P drives projects that not deliver energy savings but also cut pollution, promote public health and encourage social progress by tackling environmental sustainability across sectors. For instance, the E5P financed the introduction of electric buses in Batumi, Georgia, improving air quality and fostering a more inclusive labour market.

Lea Beridze is among Batumi's first female bus drivers. "Before I started, many people said I wouldn't last. They said I couldn't do it," she says. "But I did everything possible to break the stereotype and become a driver." Her journey exemplifies how E5P projects impact lives, defying conventions and enabling individuals to transcend limits.

The E5P is hard at work in other sectors, too, restoring pivotal infrastructure in line with environmental best practice. The fund will help to build a modern waste treatment plant in Adjara, Georgia and aim to reduce pollution by 140 tonnes per year in an area where bad waste management had long threatened human health and the environment.

"This plant creates the infrastructure we need, as well as jobs," explains Nodar Kontselidze of Ajara Waste Management. "It treats waste to the correct environmental standards." The project is more than just a technical upgrade; it offers a new future for Adjara, ensuring clean water, healthier ecosystems and a more sustainable way of life.

The hope for the future created by the E5P's impact on the early education sector is evident in Armenia. Gayane Nazaryan, a Yerevan kindergarten teacher, explains that her students are now learning in a different climate. "The windows and doors were replaced to European standards. The heating was renovated, and a solar energy system was installed," she says. For Gayane and her young charges, these updates offer comfort and a cleaner place in which to grow and learn - a step towards sustainability thanks to a successful project implemented by the EIB.

Fifteen years of making a difference

The numbers behind the E5P's success are just as compelling as the stories. Once all the 55 projects have been implemented, they will slash annual CO₂ emissions by more than 2,000,000 tonnes (the equivalent of 1,000,000 passenger cars off the roads) by investing €1.9 billion in 52 projects. The E5P touches the lives of 15 million people a year and saves 4,000,000 MWh of energy and 265,012 m³ of water.

The E5P has been the basis for long-term success, thanks to its partnership model of cooperation. The European Union and 24 bilateral donors, including Beneficiary countries, have all provided donor funds close to EUR 437 million, which are used as grants to mobilise loans from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (Nefco) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). With this collaborative approach, the E5P has shown that small amounts of money can make a big, lasting difference for local communities

The donors to E5P include: the European Union (largest donor), Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan Business EBRD TC Fund, Turkiye, Ukraine and the USA

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