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EBRD taps international resources for cleaner water in FYR Macedonia
A €69.5 million programme coordinated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which itself contributed loan financing of €20.8 million, will provide urgently needed water and sewerage services in five cities in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In addition to the EBRD loan, the financing package will consist of €31.8 million grant and concessional loan financing from international donors* and €16.9 million in local contributions.
This is the first infrastructure project completed by the EBRD under the "quick start" programme of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe. In addition, the Bank is implementing Regional Private Sector Initiatives including the launch of a new €150 million donor-supported banking facility to develop the region’s many small businesses together with the European Commission. Quick Start applies to regional projects selected by the International Financial Institutions under the Stability Pact which start implementation between March 2000 and April 2001.
"This is an impressive coordination effort of the international community, the Government of FYR Macedonia and local counterparts, which will allow us to make a very real difference not only to the lives of many Macedonians but also to the region’s environment," said Charles Frank, First Vice President of the EBRD. "We are supplying the people with a basic need – clean and safe drinking water and at the same time we are providing the impetus for self-financing and sustainable local service provision."
The programme will allow five separate public water utilities - JP Vodovod in Kumanovo, MJP Proaqua in Ohrid/Struga, JP Isar in Stip, JPKD Komunalec in Strumica, and JKP Derven in Veles - to address urgent shortcomings in the country’s water and waste-water infrastructure. Rehabilitation and extension of distribution networks, water sources, water treatment plants, pumping stations and reservoirs will benefit from financing, as will FYR Macedonia’s sewer systems. The project will also support the creation of four vital waste-water treatment plants - only three currently exist, with only one actually functioning.
"This loan agreement with the EBRD, which is the biggest investor in our country having already committed more than €190 million, is very important for us. The project will solve urgent problems with water supply and waste-water services in six important towns," said Nikola Gruevski, Minister of Finance for FYR Macedonia. "Our cooperation with the EBRD in this first project of the Balkan Stability Pact has been excellent and I am confident of fruitful cooperation on many projects to come."
The loan will be used for the treatment of waste water, which left untreated, causes severe environmental and health hazards in local rivers and in countries down-stream, such as Bulgaria and Greece. Improved water supply to many FYR Macedonian households and farms usually left without sufficient water supply during the summer months will also result from the loan.
*Donor countries are Denmark, Germany, Greece, Japan, Portugal and Switzerland. In addition, the Netherlands and Taiwan contributed funds to prepare initial feasibility studies.
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