Kazan Municipal Water and Wastewater Loan

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Project ID 37096

Status Complete

Location

Russia

Business Sector

Municipal Infrastructure

Notice Type

State

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Project ID 37096

Status Complete

Location

Russia

Business Sector

Municipal Infrastructure

Notice Type

State

Environmental Category

Approval Date

20 Mar 2007

Disclosure date

01 Jun 2006

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

Project Description

The proposed project involves a loan to the municipal water and wastewater utility of the City of Kazan, capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan. The proceeds of the loan would be used to finance priority capital investments to improve the municipal water and wastewater infrastructure and services in the City, which will contribute significantly to decreasing the level of polluting discharges into the Volga River and the Caspian Sea basin.

Transition Impact

The proposed project will have an impact on the transition process through:

(i) corporatisation and commercialisation of the Company

(ii) billing according to actual consumption;

(iii) transfer of skills during the implementation phase including the procurement, design, installation and contracts supervision in accordance to the best available international engineering practice.

The Client

The borrower will be the municipal water and wastewater utility “Vodocanal” (the Company) of the City of Kazan.

EBRD Finance

A senior Rouble loan equivalent to 350 million RUR with two priority investments:

waste water treatment plant upgrade
waste water pumping station rehabilitation.

Project Cost

Equivalent to EUR 26 million.

Environmental Impact

Description of the project

Kazan Municipal Water and Wastewater Management Utility “Kazan Vodocanal” has requested the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD”) to provide financing to support the priority capital investments to improve the municipal water and wastewater infrastructure and services for the City of Kazan. The Project includes 3 investment components:

Rehabilitation and of the Main Wastewater Treatment Plant to enhance its operational efficiency and to improve sludge dewatering
Rehabilitation of Iskohz Wastewater Pumping Station
Construction of new networks in a new housing area

Environmental classification and rationale

The EBRD has classified the project B/1 for components 1 and 2. Component 3 of the priority investments programme has been classified as IEE and will require further environmental investigations prior to disbursement of the Bank’s funds toward this component. The level of further investigations will depend on the location and scale of the new networks. The project is associated predominantly with the rehabilitation of the existing structures. This will result in limited adverse environmental impacts and in significant environmental benefits, which can be readily identified and quantified in an Environmental Analysis. As this project involves existing facilities, and environmental audit has also been undertaken.

Information reviewed during the environmental appraisal

The environmental appraisal has been based on the review of an Environmental Audit and Environmental Analysis sections of the Feasibility Study of Kazan Municipal Water and Wastewater Services, prepared by Poyry Environment in January 2007 (Final Report).

Environmental issues

The Environmental Audit has identified that Vodocanal’s operations are generally well organized and managed. The environmental, health and safety (EHS) issues are addressed and dealt with systematically, and a clear system of allocation of EHS responsibilities exists, in particular in the areas related to waste management, chemicals management and laboratory, garage and workshop operations. The existing EHS management system is compliant with the applicable Russian laws and regulations.

Major issues of environmental concern are as follows:

Inadequate sludge disposal and treatment at the disposal areas, sludge fields and , landfill. The sludge fields are almost full and if disposal is continuing there one can expect a breakdown of the embankments of the sludge ponds resulting in sludge flowing into the surrounding with residential areas and river Volga. The disposed sludge at the sludge fields is an environmental and safety hazard for humans and animals in the area, because it is not fenced and one cannot walk on the surface of the sludge;
The sludge fields generate a considerable amount of methane emissions into the atmosphere as they are now. Proper management of the sludge would reduce these emissions;
There is also an environmental risk of wastewater exfiltration from the sewer system and overflows from pumping stations of poor condition, which pose a significant risk of soil contamination and a hygienic risk to the population in the vicinity. Further measures and financial resources would be required to reduce the environmental risks caused by that.

Carefully selected PIP measures will partly address these environmental issues of concern by improving overall condition at the main WWTP and upgrading the pumping station. The environmental investigations showed that the project would result in significant energy efficiency and environmental improvements, and that any adverse environmental impacts would be limited. The project has been structured to meet Russian and EU environmental standards and adequate mitigation measures have been incorporated in the project design. However, it should be noted that the project alone will not be able to bring the operations of Vodocanal into full compliance with the EU environmental standards, as much greater financial resources would be required for that (estimated at Euro 600 million). Further projects focussing on sludge disposal and management issues are under consideration.

There are no adverse impacts associated with the implementation of the Priority Investment Programme. Construction-related impacts are likely to be localised, short term in nature and they will be efficiently prevented or mitigated by applying international construction practices and planning. The project will improve wastewater collection and treatment facilities and result in better quality of effluent and energy savings. The operation will significantly contribute to decreasing the level of polluting discharges into the Volga River and the Caspian Sea basin.

Summary of mitigation measures

An Environmental Action Plan (EAP) has been developed to help the Company and the City (i) to implement the priority investment Project in the environmentally sound and sustainable manner as well as (ii) to guide them towards a long term goal to provide a wastewater service which meets the EU and national Russian standards for effluent discharges. The EAP will identify further measures that would be needed for the existing water and wastewater treatment facilities to meet applicable Russian and EU environmental standards and help prioritising the most cost-efficient measures to improve environmental, health and safety conditions in water and wastewater management in the City of Kazan.

One of the EAP measures will also address existing sludge disposal and management problems by introducing temporary environmentally sound and safe measures until a proper solution for final disposal can be arranged.

Disclosure of information and consultation

Environmental information on the project will be disclosed to public in accordance with the planning and construction procedures of Russian law. No environmental impact assessment has been required for the planned scope of the project under components 1 and 2. Environmental information for the Component 3 of the priority investments programme will be disclosed at a later stage once more information on the location and scale has been provided to the Bank and appropriate environmental investigations have taken place. In the context of EBRD’s participation in the project, this environmental summary will be disclosed locally at Kazan Vodocanal and the City of Kazan’s offices and local media as well as in English on EBRD website at www.ebrd.com.

Monitoring and reporting

Kazan Vodocanal will continue monitoring its performance in accordance with the Russian regulatory requirements. The Company will report to the EBRD annually on the measured environmental impacts and on the implementation of the EAP mitigation measures. The Bank will evaluate the project's compliance with the applicable environmental and social standards during the lifetime of the project by reviewing these reports. The EBRD may also conduct monitoring visits to the project when and if deemed appropriate.

Technical Cooperation

It is foreseen that the proposed project would include further technical cooperation support:

Technical Feasibility Study including the development of the Environmental Management Plan. Funding to be identified.
Financial Due Diligence of the Company, IFRS Audit and review of the municipal budgets to be financed by the European Union.
Project Engineer for procurement, design and contracts supervision. Funding to be identified.

Transition impact

ETI Score:60

PSD last updated

01 Feb 2019

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement: Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

EBRD project enquiries not related to procurement:
Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

Public Information Policy (PIP)

The PIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Public Information Policy page below to find out how to request a Public Sector Board Report.
Text of the PIP

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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