Improvement of energy efficiency is an important element of energy policy for a sustainable supply of
energy in Ukraine. However, the country is facing several challenges to the large-scale deployment of
energy efficient technologies. We conducted a two-stage quota sample survey of 509 commercial and
industrial firms of all regions of Ukraine to understand the barriers to energy efficiency improvements.
Our study finds that more than two-thirds of the commercial and industrial firms in the country view
improvement of energy efficiency very important to their business. However, due to several barriers they
are unable to realize the improvements of energy efficiency. Among the 19 potential barriers investigated
in the study, the survey results show that high upfront investment requirement, lack of government
policies to support energy efficiency improvements, higher cost of capital, and lack of information and
awareness are the most critical barriers to the improvement of energy efficiency in the industrial and
commercial sectors in Ukraine.