The Chisinau councilors approved the guarantee agreement for the investment project that is to be implemented by SA “Apa-Canal Chisinau”, with financial support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), by 26 votes, IPN reports.
The total value of the project is €62.8 million, 13.8 million of which is a grant. If the municipality provides guarantees, the grant will cover practically fully the interest rate. The money will be used to improve the quality of water supplied to consumers and to reduce the risks of interrupting the supply of water in exceptional conditions.
The loan will be taken out from the EBRD within the program for water supply and wastewater treatment in the municipality of Chisinau. For the implementation of the investment program, the EBRD, in concert with the European Investment Bank, proposed fully financing the first tranche for five years, including allocating grants that will diminish the financial impact for executing modernization and rehabilitation works.
The first tranche will go to modernize the Wastewater Treatment Station and the Water Treatment Station and to produce sodium hypochlorite directly at the stations so as to reduce the costs and increase the quality of the disinfectant.
About 100,000 cubic meters of water tanks will be rehabilitated. There will be set up new installations for treating freatic waters extracted from artesian wells. More than 3,000 branch pipes in apartment buildings, built in the 1960-1980. will be replaced.
The investments will enable to reduce the water losses by 30%, which will help save 50 million lei a year. The number of leakages will be halved. There will be rehabilitated and built 62 wells and set up the water distribution system for emergencies.
The largest part of the investments will go to implement the first stage of the project within which about 15 km of sewer pipes will be rehabilitated. There will be built new mud treating installations for obtaining biogas that will be used to produce electricity and heat. The hygienized mud will be used in agriculture.
