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EBRD brings cleaner, safer water to Lithuania
€14.7 Bank loan supports Phase Two of the Kaunas water and waste-water project
A €14.7 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania, will support a water and waste-water programme which should bring clean drinking water to the local people.
The EBRD loan, part of a €41.3 million package, will complement an existing water and waste-water loan signed in 1995. This Phase Two loan will finance the removal of iron from the main water supply and will support the rehabilitation and extension of the existing water pipeline system in the city. The project will also finance secondary water treatment facilities at the city's waste-water plant, bringing even cleaner water to the city and its people.
This is the first loan to a local service utility in Lithuania without a sovereign or municipal guarantee. Thomas Maier, Director of the Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure Team at the EBRD said the loan will demonstrate to other cities and banks that it is possible to finance well-run municipal services without such guarantees. Strengthening the municipal sector in these cities is not only important for improved living conditions, it will also bring the country a step closer to accession to the European Union, he added.
The project is being co-financed by the Kaunas Water Company, and the city has submitted a funding application to the EU's Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession (ISPA) programme. As well as helping to clean rivers around the city, the project supports the country's environmental agenda.
The EBRD is also helping to raise donor funds to assist with institutional development for the Kaunas Water Company and the city of Kaunas. The EBRD has already committed about
€1 billion in 40 municipal and environmental infrastructure projects across the region.
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