Press Release, September 17, 1999
World Bank approves two loans for municipal wastewater project in Hungary
WASHINGTON, September 17, 1999
The World Bank yesterday approved two loans totaling US$31.6 million equivalent (EUR 29.6 million) for a Municipal Wastewater Management Project in Hungary—a US$29.5 million equivalent (EUR 27.6 million) loan to the Municipality of Budapest and a US$2.1 million equivalent (EUR 2.0 million) loan to the Municipality of Dunaújváros. Both loans are backed by guarantees from the Government of Hungary.The project will support environmental improvement that is consistent with the government’s policy of decentralizing responsibility for provision of water and wastewater services to local governments. Further, it will help Hungary in its move towards accession into the EU by supporting a least-cost compliance strategy emphasizing prioritization and phasing of environmental investments by local governments.
The loans will finance the following two components:
- Budapest Component. This component comprises expansion and upgrading of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) - the North Budapest WWTP and the South Pest WWTP - and the construction of a trunk main system in an unsewered area of Budapest. The South Pest WWTP expansion and upgrading will include a capacity addition of 40,000 m3/day and the addition of nitrogen and phosphorous removal and biogas recovery to the treatment process. Upon completion, it will meet EU effluent standards for sensitive waters. The North Budapest WWTP expansion and upgrading is an interim phase of a master plan for complying with EU standards within the next 10 years. It includes a capacity addition of 100,000 m3/day and improved sludge handling, but only limited improvement in the plant’s capacity to remove nitrogen and phosphorous. The trunk main system is in North Buda and will make it possible for an existing population of 19,000 now on septic tanks to be connected to the system. Technical assistance is included to carry out a study of industrial tariffs, solve an odor problem at the North Budapest WWTP, and prepare a study on the regulation of industrial wastes and the enforcement of standards.
- Dunaújváros Component. This component comprises a new 15,000 m3/day secondary WWTP with nitrogen and phosphorous removal, sludge stabilization, and biogas recovery designed to meet EU standards. Also included is reconstruction of stormwater overflow facilities in the collection system and pumping station upgrading. Technical assistance is included for studies of alternatives for operating the completed facilities, and the feasibility of the use of sludge from the new WWTP to reclaim slag deposits at the Dunai Vasmü steel plant and a closed landfill site.
Each loan has a maturity of 15 years, including a 5-year grace period, at the Bank’s standard LIBOR-based fixed rate for single currency EURO loans. Since Hungary joined the World Bank in 1983, commitments total approximately US$4.35 billion for 41 projects.
