In line with the priorities of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 17.5 million to St Petersburg’s water company Vodokanal to finance reduction of the pollution discharged into the Gulf of Finland.
Jointly financed by the Nordic Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank, the City of St. Petersburg and the Russian Federation, the project involves:
- the completion of the Northern Tunnel Collector, the main tunnel sewer on the right bank of the River Neva collecting wastewater for the Northern Wastewater Treatment Plant including a pumping station and the closure of sewers discharging untreated sewage directly into the River Neva
- the enhancement of nutrient removal at large Central and Northern wastewater treatment plants
This loan represents the continuation of the successful cooperation between the EIB and Vodokanal of St Petersburg. The Bank has already provided two loans to this company: EUR 25 million for co-financing the completion of St Petersburg’s South West Wastewater Treatment Plant and EUR 20 million for the rehabilitation and modernisation of the City’s Northern Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Background:
The EIB finances projects in Russia and the Eastern Partnership countries on the basis of an EU Council mandate of EUR 3.7 billion for the period 2007-2013, which is provided for projects of significant interest to the EU in transport, energy, telecommunications and environmental infrastructure.
In this regard priority is given to projects on extended major Trans European Network axes, projects with cross-border implications for one or more Member States and major projects favouring regional integration through increased connectivity. In the environmental sector, in Russia the EIB gives particular priority to projects within the framework of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership. In the energy sector, strategic energy supply and energy transport projects are of particular importance.