December 4 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Friday it is lending 5 million euro ($6.06 million) to Romania for sustained water and wastewater services in seven counties, as part of the bank's response to coronavirus pandemic.
The standby liquidity facility is granted to Romania’s regional operator of water and wastewater utility RAJA Constanta to help it cope with the impact of the pandemic on its business, the EBRD said in a press release.
The loan comes under the Vital Infrastructure Programme of the EBRD’s Solidarity Package which includes emergency liquidity for key infrastructure providers such as RAJA.
Majority owned by the county of Constanta, RAJA serves more than three million industrial and public-sector clients in seven counties of Romania. To date, RAJA has received five loans worth a total of 101 million euro from the EBRD, which helped the company achieve compliance with EU directives on water quality and wastewater collection and treatment.
As part of its work with the bank, RAJA has committed to significantly reducing water losses. Under a performance-based contract that RAJA signed with Administração e Gestão de Sistemas de Salubridade the Portuguese water company is undertaking necessary upgrades while providing a performance guarantee, the bank said.
($= 0.8254 euro)