Naftogaz Teplo LLC, a subsidiary of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, which manages Novoyavorivska and Novorozdilska combined heat and power plants (CHPP, Lviv region) and is awaiting the transfer of six larger state-owned CHPPs to its management, intends to actively cooperate with local businesses on a long-term purchase of bio-raw materials in order to reduce natural gas consumption, head of the company Vitaliy Mykhaile said.

"We are now in the mode of formulating a partnership model: there is, for example, a local small business that will know that a company needs a certain amount of bio-raw materials annually to produce heat and electricity. Let it be wood chips or straw, in the production of which entrepreneurs can invest and build a sustainable business," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Mykhaile added that it could also be specially recycled garbage.

He stressed the company's readiness to enter into long-term contracts, for example, for 10 years, so that partners could invest in the development of their business.

According to the head of Naftogaz Teplo, the company itself does not intend to enter these areas on its own, but will focus on modernizing CHPPs and increasing their efficiency.

He also said that Naftogaz Teplo intends to simplify and make transparent the conditions for connecting to heat and electricity where it provides such services.

Asked about the possibility of joining efforts with another subsidiary of Naftogaz - Naftogaz Ukrainy, which supplies gas to the population, the head of Naftogaz Teplo said that "there are such ideas."

"They have not been developed yet. But I think the potential synergy will be great," he said.