Valcea, Romania, to upgrade water and wastewater services with EBRD loan

Up to €13.85 million to Valcea water utility will help extend and modernise water and wastewater networks 

The EBRD is continuing to support the modernisation of water infrastructure in Romania with an up to €13.85 million loan for a project, co-financed with EU regional investment programme, that will help improve water and wastewater services for residents of Valcea county in the centre of Romania in line with EU directives.  

The EBRD loan is extended to  SC APAVIL SA Ramnicu Valcea, a regional water utility operating in Valcea County. The county, with about  413 thousand inhabitants, is planning to extend and modernise water and wastewater services, which will slash water losses and costs, in 6 agglomerations: Ramnicu Valcea, Dragasani, Calimanesti, Olanesti, Babeni, and Balcesti.

This loan will co-finance a regional investment programme approved by the EU under Romania's Cohesion Fund Programme. The EBRD financing will consist of an EBRD loan of €8.55 million coupled with an envisaged loan of up to €5.30 million for green energy investments. This project is part of the EBRD's Regional EU Cohesion  Fund Co-financing Framework (R2CF).  

The investment will help the county improve the quality of its water supply, wastewater collection and treatment services in line with EU directives, and will allow the company to considerably reduce water losses and operating costs. 

The EBRD loan is supported by a grant of €750,000 for technical cooperation from the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund, alongside other technical cooperation funded by the government of Spain, the Central European Initiative and the EBRD's own funds.  

R2CF, launched in 2010 and extended in 2012, is a €330 million EBRD framework to provide additional financing to Romanian regional water companies by investing in water and wastewater infrastructure.  Since the beginning of its operations, the EBRD has invested about €6 billion in Romania, mobilising over €11 billion for the projects from other sources of financing.