Luxembourg, 30/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank will provide a loan of EUR 25 million to the St Petersburg water company Vodokanal for the South West Wastewater Treatment Plant. A 29 December press release explains that the project is the first in Russia to benefit from EIB financing following a decision of the Stockholm EU Council to authorise activity by the Bank in support of environmental projects in the Baltic Sea Rim of Russia.
The project will improve wastewater services for over 720,000 citizens of St Petersburg and will help upgrade water quality in the Baltic Sea, being thus also important for all neighbouring Baltic Sea countries. The project was developed with support from the Nordic Investment Bank. In addition to the EIB, NIB and Vodokanal, cofinanciers include the City of St Petersburg, EBRD, NEFCO, the European Commission, the Finnfund, the Swedfund and the private investors involved in Nordvod, the entity in charge of the plant.
The loan was signed by Sauli Niinistö, the Vice-President of the EIB whose responsibilities include supervision of the EIB activity in Russia, and Mr. Karmazinov, Director General of Vodokanal. Niinisto commented: “The EIB attaches a lot of importance to this loan, …it represents the first ever lending of the European Investment Bank in Russia, a key partner of the European Union" and will benefit not only St Petersburg but also other countries bordering on the Baltic.
The EIB has made loans to some 130 countries outside the EU in central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Russia, the Mediterranean, African, Pacific and Caribbean countries, Asia and Latin America (see p.9).