Chernivtsivodokanal is a municipal enterprise owned by the city of Chernivtsi. It has been providing water supply services to the city of Chernivtsi since 1895. The provision of water supply and wastewater services in Ukraine is a municipal responsibility and Chernivtsivodokanal is licensed by the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission to provide these services. As a municipal enterprise, Chernivtsivodokanal reports to the City Council and the director is appointed by the City Council. Nevertheless, the company has autonomy in the day-to-day operational and management activities. Chernivtsivodokanal is expected to finance its activities through the tariffs they charge consumers plus additional financial support from the city budget for a portion of the capital investment needs.
The activities include primarily:
MVV Netze GmbH is a regionally active grid operator for the Mannheim supply region and surrounding area and a subsidiary of MVV Energie AG. MVV Netze GmbH has its headquarters in Mannheim. Around 500 employees ensure a reliable and secure supply of water, district heating, gas, electricity and street lighting for approx. 350,000 inhabitants.
MVV Netze GmbH also provides technical services for customers and partners. These include, in particular, services in the fields of planning, construction, operation, maintenance, advice and project support for technical projects in the water, district heating, gas, electricity and street lighting divisions. MVV Netze also offers technical services in the areas of network and plant inspections, fault acceptance, network data management with a geo-information system and training.
The city of Chernivtsi has about 260,000 inhabitants and is located in the west of Ukraine directly on the Romanian border. In the current war situation, the city is a humanitarian centre for war refugees within Ukraine. Currently, more than 60,000 refugees are accommodated. The city of Mannheim has maintained partnership ties with Chernivtsi since 2015. On 05.04.2022, the Mannheim City Council voted unanimously in favour of an official city partnership with Chernivtsi.
MVV Netze would like to support Chernivtsivodokanal in overcoming the current challenges through a non-profit, low-threshold partnership cooperation. The primary aim is to provide collegial advice. It is also planned to supply technical material and equipment as well as to provide technical support for the commissioning and use of the technical equipment.
The solidarity utility partnership will focus on the following activities:
The collaboration between the partners will start online, followed by possible face-to-face meetings and training sessions at MVV Netze's headquarters in Mannheim.