EBRD lends EUR 17 mln to improve water supply in Sibiu county

Newsroom 30/11/2011 | 14:02

The EBRD has extended a EUR 17.1 million loan to S.C. Apa-Canal Sibiu, water utility company servicing residents in 34 administrative units in the southern, central and north-western part of Sibiu county as well as those in Fagaras town located in the neighboring Brasov county.

The funds will be used to part-finance the construction, extension and rehabilitation of water supply and wastewater treatment systems. The project is part of the EU Cohesion Funds program for Sibiu, worth a total of EUR 124 million.

The investment program will enable S.C. Apa-Canal Sibiu to reduce significantly water leakages, optimize operating costs and bring its wastewater collection and treatment system in line with EU regulations and standards.

The EBRD loan is part of the EUR 200 million Regional EU Cohesion Fund Co-financing Framework (R2CF) launched in 2010 to support investments in Romania’s water and wastewater infrastructure and help municipalities absorb the financing available from EU Cohesion Funds. So far, the Bank’s investments under R2CF enabled Romanian cities to attract almost EUR 650 million from EU Cohesion Funds. It is estimated that the framework will mobilize additional investments of approximately EUR 1.5 billion in Romania’s water and wastewater infrastructure.

Since the beginning of its operations in Romania, the EBRD has committed over EUR 5.4 billion to various sectors of the country’s economy.