OREANDA-NEWS. December 21, 2009. The EBRD’s Multilateral Carbon Credit Fund (MCCF) agreed to purchase carbon credits from Ukraine’s local food fats producer, a plant of Creative Group Holding during the period between 2009 and 2012, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

This is another project under the Bank’s Ukraine Energy Efficiency Programme (UKEEP) framework to benefit from a carbon finance transaction while employing environmentally-friendly technology.

The carbon deal is implemented in the context of the EUR14.3 million loan to MMF jointly financed by the State Export - Import Bank of Ukraine and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development through the UKEEP. It envisages construction of a new oil extraction facility with combined heat and power (CHP) units where the sunflower seed husk will be used as fuel.

The project significantly lowers consumption of natural gas and of electric power and the associated CO2 emissions. In addition, the project reduces methane emissions due to avoidance of land filling of the sunflower seed husks. It is expected that the project will result in emission reductions of over 100 000 tons of CO2e in the period of 2009-2012.

The carbon credits are to be generated via the Joint Implementation (JI) scheme under the Kyoto protocol. JI is a market-based approach for addressing global climate change that uses international partnerships to achieve low-cost reductions in Green House Gases.

The MCCF was launched in December 2006 and sponsored by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). It is one of the few carbon funds dedicated specifically to countries from Central Europe to Central Asia.

The transaction was negotiated by GreenStream Network Plc., acting as carbon manager for MCCF in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. GreenStream is a leading Northern European developer and manager of green investment vehicles, basing its excellence on a variety of advanced advisory and intermediary services (http://www.greenstream.net). Acting as the Arranger of the present Carbon deal UkrEximBank is a long standing partner of EBRD and a leading Ukrainian financial institution which provides project finance and export support to the corporate sector of Ukraine. (http://www.eximb.com/eng/).