Tetiana ZIATIKOVA

[ region ]

Zhytomyr

11 / 02 / 2020

Head of the department of infrastructure projects, energy efficiency and promotion at the municipality of Zhytomyr

[ topic ] Energy

Ukraine is one of the least energy-efficient countries in Europe. Cities have a big potential to increase energy efficiency if municipal departments coordinate their action.

The cities of Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr received the European Energy Award (EEA). EEA enables municipalities to improve their energy management and to certify their performance.

Energy efficiency was not really a topic of discussion when I started to work at the city administration. Yet this is a field of expertise that has turned everything around for us. On a personal level, I gained brand new knowledge on an issue I knew nothing of. I even learned English to be able to access resources on European practices. It pushed me to change the way I worked, instead of me simply sitting at my desk. Together with my team we understood that energy efficiency can not be only about schools and hospitals: it has to impact all aspects of public policy.

Energy efficiency can not be only about schools and hospitals: it has to impact all aspects of public policy.

We have coordinated our work more intensely with other departments at the city administration and with different organisations and citizens’ associations. Energy efficiency is a very dynamic field and I keep looking for all kind of innovations so that I may apply them to my city. There are obvious concrete results to the project: the costs of energy have decreased for the inhabitants, as well as the overall consumption. There are also broader results, that is the improvements to our work and the widening of our understanding of the world. The best investment is in people, isn’t it?

Since 24th February 2022

In March 2021, I went on to open a company and to provide consulting services on energy efficiency to various city administrations. I wanted to share my knowledge with more partners because it had become harder to do it under Covid restrictions. The war changed everything and I had to flee my country with my daughter. For now we are in Poland and my daughter is schooled here. Yet I did not change my field of activity. I keep advising various cities across Ukraine as we all prepare for the restoration.

I may bring in some practical know-how on the implementation of energy management systems in city budgets, on the development of energy efficiency at community levels. I may also advise on the participation of Ukrainian municipalities to the European energy award. As far as I can see, one needs to be as effective as possible in order to help, depending on one’s availabilities and capabilities. We work for the victory!

after

24 feb 2022

What else is Switzerland doing for Ukraine?

Switzerland has been assisting those impacted through various means – from humanitarian aid, humanitarian demining and financial support to granting protection status S to individuals from Ukraine seeking refuge. By 15 February 2024, the Swiss federal government had spent a total of around 3 billion Swiss francs to support Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland and people in Ukraine.

In 2022, Switzerland organised the first Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano and launched the political process to help Ukraine rebuild. The Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in Switzerland in 2024, set up a path towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. In the longer term, the Federal Council aims to allocate 1.5 billion Swiss francs to support Ukraine's recovery efforts by 2028.

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