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EBRD helps improve solid waste management in Romania
€5 loan Bank loan supported by EU grant funds
The EBRD is lending the city of Bacau, in north-east Romania, €5 million to
help improve its solid waste management programme. The loan is part of a Bank
initiative to support such programmes across the country, especially using
private sector expertise.
The EBRD loan will be coupled with €15 million in grant finance from the
European Union under ISPA, a programme supporting infrastructure projects in
EU accession countries. These funds will finance the closure and
rehabilitation of existing landfills, and will finance a new landfill that is
compliant with EU environmental requirements.
The Bank’s loan will specifically finance equipment and facilities for solid
waste collection and recycling, such as bins and special collection vehicles,
as well as items used for composting. The Bank will also work with the city to
utilise private companies in the management of its solid waste operations.
Arthur Schankler, EBRD Senior Banker for Municipal and Environmental
Infrastructure, said the Bank is rolling out a new solid waste programme in
Romania, and we hope to build on this project. It is an important project that
is supporting an EBRD and Romanian strategy to couple the private and public
sector in infrastructure projects, he added.
Erich Unterwurzacher, Head of Unit at the European Commission Directorate -
General for Regional Policy, said the project in Bacau would provide for an
environmentally sustainable and affordable integrated waste management system
that complies with the EU requirements and national waste management
legislation. This is a continuation of the fruitful cooperation between the EC
and EBRD in financing environmental investments in Romania, he added.
The EBRD is one of the largest investors in Romania having committed more than
€3.1 million in projects.
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