MINSK, 10 July (BelTA) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is ready to support E5P grants for Belarus with loans worth €45 million, Lin O'Grady, EBRD Deputy Director for Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure, said on 10 July at a ceremony to sign the grant agreement to allocate €2 million to improve solid waste management in Pukhovichi, BelTA has learned.
The lending in question refers to €15 million in loans to increase energy efficiency of the housing stock in Minsk (E5P will grant €5 million) and €30 million in loans to upgrade water treatment facilities in eight Belarusian towns (E5P will grant €12 million).
“Apart from that, we would like to scale up cooperative relations in central heating and implement projects in transport and street lighting,” Lin O'Grady said.
BelTA reported earlier that the EBRD provides a government loan of up to €5 million for a new solid waste management company to be established by the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee for Pukhovichi District and Cherven District. The loan will be used to fund the development of the advanced solid waste management system covering collection and treatment of MSW in these districts. The loan will be co-financed by the donors' grant worth up to €2 million from the E5P fund.
The new waste treatment company will be the first in Belarus to fully comply with the EU standards. The project is consistent with the EBRD Green Economy Transition. It will help improve the standards of governance in the utilities sector. The enterprise will be designed, built and put into operation in accordance with the EU directive on landfills. Technical support for the preparation of the project was provided by the Government of Czechia.
Since the start of its operations in Belarus in 1992, the EBRD has invested over €2 billion in some 95 projects in various sectors of the country's economy.
The Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environmental Partnership (E5P) is a €180 million multi-donor fund initiated during the Swedish Presidency of the European Union in 2009 to encourage municipal investments in energy efficiency and environmental projects in the Eastern Partnership region.
The E5P participates in projects as a co-financier. Loans are provided by participating agencies such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), International Finance Corporation (IFC), KfW, Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), and World Bank Group. E5P participants include the EU and United States and also Armenia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Sweden, Ukraine and Belarus.
