EU funds for wastewater collection and treatment in Mura and Drava river basin
Ljubljana, 7 August 2013 – Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, acting as the Managing Authority for EU structural funds and the Cohesion Fund, issued a decision awarding EU funds for the projects of wastewater drainage and treatment in the Mura and Drava river basin. The overall estimated value of both projects, which are foreseen to be closed no later than at the end of 2015, is 22 million Euros of which the contribution of the Cohesion Fund amounts to a little over 12 million Euros.
The project “Wastewater collection and treatment in the Mura river basin (2nd Set) – Municipality Gornja Radgona” foresees the construction of the missing municipal infrastructure for wastewater collection and treatment in the Municipality Gornja Radgona, namely the construction of the sewage system Gornja Radgona and the construction of the sewage treatment plant. Under the project 9,074.50 metres of separate sewage system, three pumping stations, three control facilities, a retention basin and a central wastewater treatment plant Gornja Radgona with the capacity of 8,800 PE will be constructed. 900 inhabitants will be connected to the public sewage system.
The realisation of the project, which is worth 11.8 million Euros and for which the Cohesion Fund will contribute 6.4 million Euros, certain socio-economic objectives will be achieved:
- reduction of the pollution of water bodies and soil (reduction of emissions into the surface and groundwater and soil will have a positive impact on the environment, especially the sensitive and nature protection ecosystems and, thus, biodiversity)
- reduction of danger for health (reduction of the uncontrolled emissions of potentially contaminated water, protection of aquatic resources)
- positive impact on the development of the region (enhancing the quality of life and improvement of environmental parameters will have a positive impact on the attractiveness of the region and the development of tourism which will increase employment opportunities)
In accordance with the EU directives and the pre-accession contract the second approved project “Wastewater collection and treatment in the Drava river basin (3rd Set) – Municipality Središče ob Dravi” foresees the construction of the wastewater treatment plant in Središče ob Dravi with the capacity of 2,200 PE and 22.8 kilometres of the sewage system with seven pumping stations. With the realisation of the project, which is worth 10.2 million Euros and for which the Cohesion Fund will contribute 5.7 million Euros, wastewater will be treated for 1,782 inhabitants of the Municipality Središče ob Dravi.
The funds of the Operational Programme for the Development of the Environmental and Transport Infrastructure for the period 2007-2013, which is worth the 1.57 billion Euros, are primarily meant for the modernisation or construction of new infrastructure in the field of environment and transport. The smaller share of these funds is also meant for the projects in the field of sustainable energy use.
