Podgorica: Signed agreement on the co-financing of the project for the construction of a wastewater treatment system

The director of the Podgorica city company "Vodovod i Kanalizacija" Filip Makrid, the Minister of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism Ana Novaković Đurović and the chief engineer of the German development bank KfW Dirk Valerijen signed an agreement on the co-financing of the project for the construction of a system for the collection and purification of waste water, it was reported from PG Bureau.

Mayor Ivan Vuković emphasized that the construction of the waste water treatment system is the most important infrastructure project in the capital's history, and that its construction will solve a major environmental problem and preserve the natural wealth of the rivers.

He said that 23 million euros of grants were provided for the financing of that project.

"This is the second grant of this type. We provided this one through the Western Balkans Investment Framework, and the first a few years ago directly from the European Commission in the amount of EUR 10.000.000,00. In summary, we can say that this project is the most important for the Capital City and certainly in the next few decades, Europe has so far supported it with 33.000.000,00 euros in grant funds, which speaks of how our partners perceive the importance of this project. There is no doubt that the implementation of this project is necessary in order to solve the most important environmental problem in the city. In this way, we permanently protect the Morača river, we protect the Skadar lake, the Bolje sestre water source," said Vuković.

The mayor, as it was announced, pointed out that he is proud of the fact that the city administration, despite the challenges, has managed to realize the various development phases and implementation plans of this project so far.

"With this financial support, by the end of the year, we will create the necessary prerequisites for starting work on the construction of the plant itself. That should happen in the first quarter of next year, and in three years from today we will have the most modern wastewater treatment plant in this part of Europe," Vuković pointed out.

Professor Petar Živković, president of the Board of Directors of "Water and Sewerage", expressed satisfaction with the chance to build "the first plant in this part of the Balkans" which, he said, will be complete, because "the water coming out of the plant will have a high quality, there will be no unpleasant odors, and there will be no residue in the area where the plant itself will be located."

Minister Novaković Đurović said that this is an extremely important project for the residents of the capital.

"It is very important that, after so many years, we can finally overcome this existing facility and replace it with new, modern and good solutions. It is important to point out that the existing plant still produces a very negative environmental effect, even though this is an undertaking whose importance goes beyond the borders of Podgorica", said Novaković Đurović.

German Ambassador Peter Felten said that this is "a technologically superior project" that will improve the quality of life of the citizens of Podgorica, but also the state of the infrastructure, and "raise sanitary and environmental standards in Podgorica to the European level", the statement added.

"I am very pleased that we can support this project. We have similar problems in Germany, we are aware of the challenges we face when building such facilities. So, it is a big responsibility of the state authorities to enable the realization of the general interest of the community," said Felten.