EU, Development Banks Fund Modernization of Water System in Republika Srpska: 15.5 million Euro to build wastewater treatment plant in Bijeljina

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the EU and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) announced in July that they will support further modernization of the water system services in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 15.5 million Euro for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant and the expansion of the wastewater collection network in Bijeljina, the second largest city in Republika Srpska.

The municipal centre of Bijeljina and its suburbs, with some 95,000 residents, are connected to the water supply system managed by the Vodovod i Kanalizacija Bijeljina, a water services company majority-owned by the government of Republika Srpska.

The financing extended to Vodovod i Kanalizacija Bijeljina includes a 5 million Euro sovereign loan from the EBRD,6.5 million Euro grant funding from the EU and an additional 42 million Swedish Krona grant from SIDA.

The funds will finance the construction of a modern wastewater treatment plant that will initially serve up to 40,000 residents. The project also includes a wastewater collection infrastructure that will further expand the plant's capacity.

"The new wastewater treatment plant will be built in compliance with EU environmental standards," said Giulio Moreno, Head of EBRD Office in BiH.

"This project is the result of the successful implementation of the previous project and continuous co-operation of the Government of Republika Srpska and the EBRD. In addition, the project will also help us to test the new legal structure for financing of public utilities, whereby these utilities assume more responsibility for all aspects of project implementation, through direct loan agreements with international financial institutions," said Aleksandar Dzombic, Minister of Finance of Republika Srpska .

In 2007 the EBRD provided a similar 7 million loan to Vodovod i Kanalizacija Bijeljina to finance the initial phase of the modernization of the wastewater network in the city.

This material is circulated by Quinn Gillespie & Associates on behalf of the Republika Srpska, for which QGA is registered as a foreign agent with the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., where a registration statement and additional materials are available for public inspection