Extended under the EBRD’s Regional EU Cohesion Fund Co-financing Framework, the loan will be used to co-finance the company’s RON344 million EU Cohesion Fund regional investment program, EBRD said in a statement.
The EBRD funds will part-finance the construction, extension and rehabilitation of water supply and wastewater treatment systems in Bistrita-Nasaud county.
“This will allow SC Aquabis S.A to reduce significantly water leakages, optimise operating costs and bring its wastewater collection and treatment system in line with EU regulations and standards,” EBRD said.
The EBRD’s loan is a sub-project of the EUR200 million Regional EU Cohesion Fund Cofinancing Framework (R2CF) which was launched in 2010 to support investments in Romania’s water and wastewater infrastructure and to help municipalities absorb the financing available from EU Cohesion Funds.
It is estimated that the framework will mobilize additional investments of approximately EUR1.5 billion in Romania’s water and wastewater infrastructure.
Since the beginning of its operations in Romania, the EBRD has committed over EUR5.4 billion to various sectors of the country’s economy.