Ukraine plans to conclude negotiations with Japan on the loan for the reconstruction of the Bortnychi Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) by the end of the year. The Japanese side is willing to extend 10 billion hryvnias for 40 years at 0.1 percent per annum. In addition, the deal includes 10-year-long grace period when no repayments are to be made. Under these conditions, Ukraine will have to provide only 350 million hryvnias of funding. The news was announced during a press conference of Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities of Ukraine Volodymyr Hroisman. According to the vice prime minister, the loan will come as technical assistance to Ukraine in addressing environmental problems.
The work is to start as early as September 1. The project calls for the reconstruction to be completed in about eight years, but with enough funding, bad odor at the plant will disappear in two to three years. The first block will be the first to be reconstructed, as a sludge processing plant will be built there.
Volodymyr BRAZHNYK, chief manager of the Bortnychi Waste Water Treatment Plant:
“The loan is a real bargain for us, especially when compared to offers coming from domestic banks. The plant has functioned since 1965, that is for over 40 years. All its facilities are terribly worn out. During that time, there has been no repair work carried out. The reconstruction project has been discussed since 2000. The current project is the fourth in a row. We have projects available, but no work is carried out. We have no funding. The government promised a lot, but has allocated nothing.
“I believe that the Japanese took an interest in it because of their special attitude to environmental issues. They see the state of the WWTP today and realize that we are on the brink of disaster. Thus, they help not just the plant, but all of Ukraine, which is now entering the path of European development and will eventually come to understand the need to deal with environmental issues.”
