Montenegro needs 700 million € for the establishment of modern waste management

Montenegro will need approximately 700 million € of investments for the implementation of communal services that will achieve the required up to date quality in accordance with EU laws. That is the conclusion of the realization scheme of the Master plans for the governance of waste and waste waters in Montenegro, that are a part of the new head waste management law for Montenegro, which came into force in January this year.

In order to succeed in obtaining as much funding as possible, the Montenegro’s ministry for the Environment and Spatial planning started a series of meetings with potential investors, which they aim to organize twice a year regularly. So far they have organised two so-called coordination conferences with international financial institutions and donors, where the aim is to provide financial means for the implementation of communal services.

On the last coordination conference “Strengthening cooperation and coordination of activities on the development of communal infrastructure in Montenegro,” which was held on the 3rd of March, also the representatives from the European Commission in Montenegro, several international financial institutions, Montenegro governmental institutions and partner organisations were present. The outcome the conference showed that so far Montenegro lacks about 32 million € for the establishment of regional landfills in Bijelo Polje and Berane. There is also no money available for the establishment of sewage systems in Tivat and Ulcij. On the other hand the European Investment Bank proposed to invest in a landfill in the northern part of the country that would serve the needs of seven local communities. Furthermore, the EIB promised to invest 2 million € to build a waste water treatment plant on the location of the Livada in Podgorica, where the government of Spain already financed the construction of a regional landfill and a recycling centre.

Photo: From the second waste and communal investment coordination conference -  Montenegro decided to organize regular potential investors conferences to assure money for a modern waste management in the near future.

So far Montenegro was able to conclude agreements and partially implement credit funds from the World Bank, the EIB and the KfW in the worth of abut 200 million €. Montenegro’s minister for spatial planning and the environment Branimir Gvozdenović said that the provided funds secured the implementation of the projects for this and also for the most part in the next year. Funds are committed or will be committed for the building of a regional water supply system for the Montenegro’s coast, the construction of certain segments of the sewage system in Tivat, Kotor, Herceg Novi, Bar and Nikšić, and regional centres for waste management in Bar, Kotor and Nikšić. The EIB has so far provided 27 million €, while the World Bank contributed around 8 million €. With these funds Montenegro will be able to complete the first phase of the planned projects, concluded Siniša Stanković, the deputy environmental minister. In order to provide money for all of the projects needed the best possible solution for Montenegro would be a combination of grants and loans, proposed Nikola Bertolini a representative of the European Commission.