The war has adjusted the strategic development plans of Ukraine’s largest utility company, which operates two combined heat and power plants in the capital, more than two hundred boiler houses and heat supply stations, and almost three thousand kilometers of heat networks in Kyiv. “Blackouts, loss of critical equipment, and extraordinary efforts of the staff aimed at restoring power supply – this new reality has demonstrated the efficiency and dedication of the energy workers to their work and the absolute round-the-clock readiness of KTE to ensure uninterrupted power supply to its consumers,” says Yuliia Orel, Deputy Director for Prospective Development and Investments, Head of the Kyivteploenergo Gender Committee.
Established with the support of the USAID Energy Security Project, the Kyivteploenergo Gender Committee (GC) turned into a humanitarian hub since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. It was attracting technical and humanitarian assistance to support the municipal energy infrastructure.
Over the two years of war, the KTE Gender Committee has attracted humanitarian aid worth more than UAH 10 million – this is the result of the work of the Gender Committee chaired by Yuliia Orel, with partners from European energy companies. The result is the aid provided: repair equipment, power tools, generators, valves, welding machines, fire extinguishers, fan heaters, paramedical equipment, etc.
Numerous charitable projects of the Gender Committee cover all the urgent needs of the company’s employees, from providing operational staff with medicines and food to psychological resilience and rehabilitation training. As the Head of the Gender Committee, Yuliia actively supports and encourages volunteer activities to help those employees of KTE who are defending Ukraine in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“Over the past two years of fighting for Ukraine’s sovereignty, we have become stronger and more united,” says Yuliia Orel. “Our employees are real heroes. Everyone is doing their best to ensure that the company continues to fulfill its main function of providing energy supply. The main thing that helped our energy sector to survive this winter is the commitment of energy workers. Now, as we are intensively restoring the lost capacity, we highly appreciate the assistance provided to us by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Energy Security Project. Commitment and professionalism of energy workers, multiplied by the support and assistance of our partners, is the unity from which invincibility is born.”