Naftogaz will finance 25 winning projects of the Energy of Development educational grant competition. Today, the winners were announced, each of whom will receive 100 thousand UAH for implementation of their project.  The competition was held for 90 local communities of Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, which are located within the Yuzivska area.

The Energy of Development educational grant competition was held by Naftogaz for the second time, but this time for communities within the Yuzivska area. The main goal of the Naftogaz initiative is to enable community representatives to improve their skills in project management, budget planning, communications, and grant application formation. All these skills will be useful for community representatives in Budget Management and Community Development Planning.

- While reading the applications, I better understood the needs that exist in communities. I want to thank everyone for participating in the contest. First of all, it is a platform for sharing knowledge and building interaction. I wish you successful implementation of the winning projects. Such initiatives are very important for Naftogaz and the feedback that we have received today from communities inspires us to continue working, Maxym Vityk, Naftogaz Exploration and Production Division Director for Strategic Projects, Director of Nadra Yuzivska LLC, said.

All projects developed by communities were supposed to relate to one of the Sustainable Development Goals that Naftogaz chose as a priority in its participation in the UN Global Compact. Among them:

• Goal 3: Good health and well-being.
• Goal 4: Quality education.
• Goal 6: Clean water and adequate sanitation.
• Goal 7: Renewable energy.
• Goal 11: Sustainable development of cities and communities.
• Goal 17: Partnership for sustainable development.

​- Sustainable development is primarily about leadership. All of you who decided not to stay at home, but to show your active position, create and submit a project to a competition that charges people around you – this is all about leadership. And even if you haven't won now, this boost of energy will help you to promote the Sustainable Development Goals in your community, Tetiana Sakharuk, Director General of the UN Global Compact in Ukraine, said.

The Institute of partnership and sustainable development has become an educational partner of the competition for the second time.

- Naftogaz is a stable company in supporting the communities in which it operates. Communities are now subjects of management that have a great responsibility for development of local territories. All the ideas that we hav read and evaluated will change the future of the country and the reality of a particular community and specific people, Daria Mustafina, Founder and Head of the Institute for Partnership and Sustainable Development, said.

- It is very unexpected and joyful to win this competition. Thank you for making such contests specifically for small communities that also have the right to development and a good life. Our project concerns the provision of educational services for people of advanced age and people with disabilities, and they should be particularly encouraged to study. Even if we can train only 40 residents within the framework of our project, it will be a big event for our community, Oksana Sham, representative of the territorial center for social services of the Barvenkovsky territorial community, said.

The full list of winners of the competition and information about other Naftogaz corporate social responsibility projects can be found on the website: https://csr.ugv.com.ua/.