By 2030, Serbia will complete six regional waste management centres, more than 20 wastewater treatment plants, over 900 kilometres of sewage network and hundreds of kilometres of water supply network, announced the Minister for Environmental Protection Sara Pavkov.
She said that one of the biggest challenges was consolidating responsibilities and preparing project documentation in local government units, which was a prerequisite for securing international financial support.
"Local public utility companies at municipal level share various competences in utility services. Environmental protection has permeated many areas, from cemeteries and sewage systems to various services. In some local governments, you would have one representative and several utility institutions sharing the same competences and documentation. All of this had to be consolidated in one place, and serious engineers had to be engaged to review it so that we could even enter a selection process to obtain financial support, which was done by the CEB, the Council of Europe Development Bank. This is not a small matter, because we had to meet all criteria according to European standards," she said.
Speaking about wastewater treatment plants, she noted that since 2023 alone, eight wastewater treatment plants have been completed.
"Currently, the construction of 900 kilometres of sewage network has been contracted, which means it will be completed in the next two years," she added.
Speaking about the development of the waste management system, Pavkov emphasised that key projects have been implemented in the meantime and that the start of operations of the Kalenic Regional Centre is expected.
"Kalenic, in the municipality of Ub, represents a key hub for the western part of Serbia when it comes to waste management, as it covers 15 local government units and a large number of citizens who will have a fully resolved system. A trial permit was obtained on 10 June, and already in August we can expect the first shipments of waste to arrive in Kalenic, along with the equipment we are providing," she added, noting that by 2030 every second kilogram of waste generated by households in Serbia will be treated according to European standards in regional waste management centres.
Support from the European Union
Speaking about financing environmental protection projects, Pavkov stressed that major infrastructure projects are being implemented with the support of international financial institutions and European Union non-repayable funds.
"We are borrowing through several parallel sources, in terms of credit lines from the Council of Europe Development Bank, as well as from the IBRD and EBRD. Altogether, this amounts to around 400 million euros in investments that will be made here. So far, 200 million euros have been invested in sewage and wastewater treatment. When it comes to grants through EU IPA projects and other funds, hundreds of millions of euros have already been secured. In the future, hundreds of millions more will be secured through grants and co-financing from the budget, which can sustain this," she said.
Reflecting on international support for environmental protection projects, Pavkov stressed that Serbia currently uses more grant funding than loans, and has achieved significant results in drawing funds from international sources.
"At the moment, we are receiving more non-repayable funds than loans. We are currently the only country on the continent that has used funds from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which is based on biodiversity protection. Over 20 years of using that fund, we have secured more than one billion dollars through various financing programmes in the field of environmental protection. We are also the only country in this GEF cycle that has participated in the sustainable cities programme, within which we have invested in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Zrenjanin. This amounts to an additional 6 million euros in grants that are not connected to IPA funds. We are also opening the Green Climate Fund, a completely new fund focused on combating climate change, from which we will secure additional grant funding for Serbia in the coming period, independently of IPA funds," the minister announced.
(EUpravo zato)