September 18 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it is lending 25 million euro ($29 million) to Romania to support improvement of water and wastewater services and reduction of water losses.
The loan is granted to Romania’s regional operator of water and wastewater utility RAJA and will be supported by EU funds, the EBRD said in a press release on Monday.
RAJA is Romania’s largest public water and wastewater utility and serves over three million people in eight counties: Constanța, Ialomita, Calarasi, Ilfov, Dambovita, Brasov, Prahova and Bacau.
The loan will be used to co-finance with EU cohesion funds an extension and rehabilitation of the company’s water and wastewater services and will benefit 400,000 households. The financing will also support a water efficiency programme which aims to reduce water losses by more than 300,000 m3 per year and cut 8,400 tonnes of CO2-equivalent by 2025.
The loan agreement was signed in Bucharest by EBRD president, Suma Chakrabarti, and RAJA general manager, Felix Stroe.
Chakrabarti is currently in a two-day visit in Romania, as the Romanian capital is hosting the summit of the Three Seas Initiative - a European project launched in 2016 with the aim of strengthening trade, infrastructure, energy and political cooperation among 12 countries bordering the Adriatic Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea.
To date, the EBRD has financed 24 water operators in Romania, providing a total of 330 million euro in loans and mobilising over 2 billion euro of EU funding for the country’s water and wastewater facilities.
($=0.8585 euro)