Strengthening the country’s power grid: pensioners will be able to exchange five additional incandescent bulbs for energy-saving LED bulbs in the framework of the Ukraine-EU exchange programme

At the beginning of 2023, a programme was launched by the Government of Ukraine with support from the European Union to exchange power-hungry incandescent light bulbs for energy-saving LED ones.

In the time since, Ukrainians have exchanged more than 21 million bulbs, and the exchange is continuing with the aim of achieving an ambitious goal: according to preliminary estimates, exchanging another 18 million LED bulbs will save up to 1,000 MW of electricity at the same time, which is equivalent to the operation of a nuclear power plant unit.

From 5 December, rural pensioners will have an additional opportunity to get modern light bulbs to replace incandescent ones, even if they had previously exchanged five bulbs under the programme. Such an exchange will be possible in Kyiv region from 12 December.

Katarína Mathernová, EU Ambassador to Ukraine: “Ukraine has been living in a state of full-scale war for almost two years. This winter season will bring new challenges. We have already seen new attempts by Russia to ruin the Ukrainian energy system. But Ukraine’s energy workers continue tirelessly ensuring an uninterrupted generation and supply of energy, and the Armed Forces doing their utmost to protect energy facilities. The EU works with the Government of Ukraine at a systemic level to support the country’s energy system. The Light Bulb exchange programme is a possibility for every citizen to contribute.”

To exchange additional LED bulbs, pensioners visiting Ukrposhta branches must have a passport, tax ID, pension certificate and a valid phone number with them. Retired people will be able to exchange additional energy-saving bulbs for free, as long as LEDs are available. It is important to note that this time, pensioners do not need to immediately bring old bulbs for exchange – they have the opportunity to hand them into any Ukrposhta outlet within a month from the time that they receive five additional LED light bulbs.

“I want to thank all Ukrainians who joined the Light Bulb Exchange Programme to help reduce power consumption in the country. As part of the programme’s first and second phases, citizens and legal entities received more than 21 million LED bulbs. This helped to significantly reduce the burden on the country’s power grid. Our goal is to replace about 18 million more incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient ones in order to even more significantly reduce the strain on the country’s energy system. This is especially relevant during winter. Therefore, the Government decided to introduce an additional option for pensioners to obtain five LED bulbs each directly at Ukrposhta branches in the presence of a pension certificate only,”said First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliya Svyrydenko.

At the same time, the Light Bulb Exchange Programme continues for individuals and legal entities that have not yet benefitted from the opportunity to replace their outdated incandescent bulbs with energy-saving ones. Citizens can exchange up to five incandescent bulbs for the same number of LEDs at Ukrposhta outlets. The exchange rules for legal entities have never changed either. The programme operates in 23 major regional cities and 120 district-level municipalities across Ukraine.

Background:

The Light Bulb Exchange Programme is supported by the European Union and implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Digital Transformation and Ukrposhta across all the regions of Ukraine (with the exception of the war zone and temporarily occupied territories).