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Ukrainians readily exchange old-type light bulbs for modern ones

28/02/2023

Since the 25th of February, residents of Ukrainian villages, including frontline settlements in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions, could exchange outdated incandescent light bulbs for modern LED bulbs. The “Bringing Light Together” campaign has reached all corners of Ukraine within less than a month.

Launched on the 30th of January, this campaign immediately became popular among Ukrainians. A total of 50 million light bulbs are to be exchanged.

This large-scale upgrading of the ‘light bulb fleet’ is prompted by electricity shortages caused by large-scale Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for several months.

The “Bringing Light Together” campaign is unique. It combines a creative approach to solving the energy shortage problem, European solidarity, a modern implementation mechanism using the Diia app, and the participation of millions of people in solving the country’s energy problems.

The idea came up in November last year. Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director-General for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, recalls that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed this idea at a meeting with her and the European Commission’s Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and asked for help in purchasing light bulbs.

Soon after, at the “energy Ramstein” meeting, President Zelenskyy’s initiative was supported by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She said that the EU would finance the supply of 30 million LED light bulbs from its budget. This number subsequently increased, and France joining the campaign shortly after its start.

“In the first two weeks of the “Bringing Light Together” campaign, Ukrainians have exchanged 5 million light bulbs. We are grateful to France, whose government quickly added 5 million bulbs to the 35 million light bulbs from the EU. I call on the EU member states to join this campaign to achieve the goal of replacing 50 million outdated light bulbs and saving 1 gigawatt of electricity,” said Ambassador Matti Maasikas, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine.

You can exchange old-type light bulbs for energy-saving ones in the Diia app. To do so:

  • Log in to the app
  • Select the section Services – Light Bulb Exchange
  • Enter your contact phone number and the Ukrposhta office where you would like to exchange bulbs
  • Choose the type and number of LED light bulbs you want to receive

You can also exchange bulbs at Ukrposhta offices without registration – in this case, the exchange is subject to availability. Ukrposhta offices are the single exchange point in settlements with less than 2,000 inhabitants.

More information:

“Bringing Light Together” campaign at the website EU4Ukraine –
https://eu4ukraine.eu/together-we-bring-light-ua

Campaign latest news –
https://eu4ukraine.eu/whats-happening-ua/news-ua/ukrainians-exchanged-5-million-incandescent-light-bulbs-news-ua.html

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