Additional EUR 150 million for solid waste management – Another EUR 500 million for new projects under negotiation

Serbia will be able to count on an additional EUR 150 million for solid waste management. Two loan agreements related to the third phase of the “Serbian Solid Waste Program” project, worth EUR 75 million each, were signed by Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali, Director General of the French Development Agency (AFD) Remy Rioux, Ambassador of France to Serbia Pierre Cochard and Managing Director for Central and South Eastern Europe of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Charlotte Ruhe, in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environmental Protection Irena Vujovic. The agreements cover solid waste management in 47 local governments.

Mali explained that the agreements signed with AFD and EBRD related to the financing of six large solid waste landfills throughout Serbia, some of which were already under construction.

– We will thereby cover nearly 50 local self-governments and a million and a half citizens of Serbia. These agreements are important not just for the size of the territory we cover, but also because it is a clear signal that Serbia is on the road to implementing the green agenda and preserving, protecting and improving the living environment, and that’s what’s important for the citizens of Serbia – emphasized Mali.

He added that, through the “Clean Serbia” project, Serbia also invested in the construction of thousands of kilometers of sewerage, as well as in new waste water treatment facilities. According to him, a similar thing was done in Belgrade with the Vinca landfill and now the plan is for there to be such landfills throughout Serbia so as to adequately address the problem of solid waste in the country.

– Serbia is financially stable and we could finance this from our sources, but we want to work with partners from France and EBRD – said the minister of finance. He reminded that AFD had been present in Serbia for five years and added that the total value of the portfolio that Serbia had with them was worth over half a billion euros.

– We are currently negotiating about an additional sum of more than EUR 500 million worth of new projects and new financing. So, on that end, I can say that the French government is very dedicated to our reforms, projects which are important for the citizens of Serbia – said Mali.

He pointed out that the total value of the solid waste management project in Serbia was EUR 300 million and that a half had been secured by that point.

– With these two agreements we are signing today, we will secure the total source of finance, that is, the total funds necessary for the financing of these landfills – concluded Mali.

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine Republike Srbije

EBRD Evropska banka za obnovu i razvoj Beograd

Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Environmental Protection

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

EBRD

French Development Agency

AFD

Pierre Cochard

Charlotte Ruhe

Remy Rioux

Irena Vujovic

Sinisa Mali

solid waste management

Clean Serbia