On October 5, 2017, in Poltava, a seminar “Raising Resource Efficiency of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises through Clubs Approach” was held within the framework of the demonstration component "Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production" under "Greening Economies in the European Union's Eastern Neighbourhood" (EaP Green) programme. The event was supported by the Department of Economic Development, Trade and Investment Promotion of the Poltava Regional State Administration and Poltava University of Economics and Trade. The purpose of the event was to consider the benefits of implementing resource efficient and cleaner production (RECP), to discuss the possibility of using the RECP Clubs as a tool for increasing the resource efficiency of enterprises, to identify and attract potential participants and to support the creation of the RECP Club in the Poltava region.
The event was attended representatives of enterprises, non-governmental organizations, government bodies and experts who are interested in opportunities for improving production in the direction of efficient use of resources (energy, materials and water).
The seminar was opened by a greeting speech of the Head of the Department of Entrepreneurship, Trade and Regulatory Policy of the Department of Economic Development, Trade and Investment Promotion of the Poltava Regional State Administration Mr. Mykhailo Buhrii, pro-rector of scientific work of Poltava University of Economics and Trade Mr. Serhii Harkusha and deputy national coordinator of the demonstration RECP project under the EaP GREEN programme Mr. Andrii Vorfolomeiev.
Deputy Director of the Strategic Development Department of the State Agency of Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine Ms. Tamara Burenko highlighted the issue of energy efficiency in industry and familiarized the participants with the new mechanism of stimulating the industrial enterprises towards energy efficiency and impact of introducing a carbon tax on the change in the cost of energy products.
Director of the RECP Centre Mr. Igor Shylovych reported on the experience of the Centre in increasing the competitiveness of enterprises. The participants were familiarized with the current state of implementation of resource efficient and cleaner production projects in Ukraine, as well as with the terms of cooperation of the RECP Centre with the companies.
Mr. Andrii Vorfolomeiev presented the experience of implementing the resource efficient measures at Ukrainian enterprises within the framework of the UNIDO demonstration project. He said that the measures implemented at enterprises-participants of the project enabled to reduce annual energy consumption by 8,000 MWh, water – by 17,000 m3, materials – by 40,000 tons and reduce emissions by 4,000 tons of CO2-eq. Their total economic effect was about half a million EUR. Mr. Vorfolomeiev also emphasized the role of RECP Clubs in wider familiarization of companies’ personnel with RECP practices and its implementation.
Facilitator of RECP Clubs in Ukraine Mr. Ivan Omelchuk presented an overview of the activities of the RECP Clubs. The participants were familiarized with the principles of work of the RECP Clubs and learned about the results of implementing the measures, which increased resource, and energy efficiency at the enterprises participated in RECP Clubs in Chernihiv and Kharkiv regions.
Head of the Public Association “East European Academy of Science” Mr. Oleksii Severyn briefed the participants on the prospects of the creation of the RECP Club in the Poltava region. He emphasized the urgency of implementation of resource efficient and cleaner technologies in industry and invited representatives of enterprises to take part in the creation of the RECP Club in Poltava region.
At the end of the event, during the general discussion, the topics discussed were elaborated and it was emphasized that the creation of the RECP Club is an important direction of the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Poltava region and needs further development with the involvement of local authorities, NGOs and the RECP Centre.