ZAGREB EAST REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY (SPL 20140375)

The project covers the eastern part of Zagreb county and aims at achieving compliance with the Water Framework and the Drinking Water Directives by tapping new resources of water supply as well as by extending and reconstructing distribution networks. Household connections should increase from 63.5% to 90.7% and water losses should reduce from 29.2% to 18.5%. The project has been prepared by Jaspers and has been reviewed by an Independent Quality Review (IQR).

The project will contribute to Environmental Protection and Natural Resource Efficiency.

The project will support investments in water infrastructure, in order to improve the coverage quality and resilience of integrated water services in the East Zagreb Region. In doing so, the project will contribute to ensuring compliance with key European policy and regulations in the water sector, thereby supporting the Bank's Policy Objective on Sustainable Energy and Natural Resources. The project will contribute towards the Bank's Policy Objective of Climate Action and Environmental Sustainability. The project will improve the coverage, quality and resilience of integrated water services in the East Zagreb Region. Finally, the project will create economic opportunities for the population and local businesses thus contributing to development of a less-developed region according to EU Cohesion Policy, thus contributing to the EU's economic social and territorial cohesion. JASPERS contribution with technical expertise and advice has been made available to the Promoter, therefore the Bank's technical contribution and advice for this programme is rated very good.

The EIB's involvement will facilitate the absorption of EU structural funds by securing national co-financing contributions of EU funded projects in Croatia. The EIB financing provides an essential financial contribution in the form of financial advantage that is currently not available in the market.

The project's components will contribute to ensure compliance with key EU directives in the water sector notably the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EC) and the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). Where and if applicable, the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2011/92/EU as amended by 2014/52/EU and the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive 2001/42/EC will be respected. The promoter will in such case, prior to utilising any EIB funds, be responsible for transmitting to the Bank the non-technical summary of the EIA. For any part of the project that may impact on a nature conservation site, the promoter will be required to provide to the Bank an approval of the competent authority and information on the mitigating measures required to comply with the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC.

The Bank will require the promoter to ensure that contracts for the implementation of the project will be tendered in accordance with the relevant applicable EU procurement legislation (Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU or 2014/25/EU, where applicable, as well as Directives 92/13/EEC and 89/665/EEC) as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union, with the publication of tender notices in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), as and where required.