Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) grant agreements to improve wastewater treatment in the Belarusian cities of Lida and Polotsk were signed on 19 December in Minsk.
The overall size of investments for the two cities is EUR 25 million and it includes NDEP grants of EUR 7.21 million and EBRD loans of EUR 15 million. The works in Lida will focus on a reconstruction of the existing wastewater treatment plant including an upgrade of pressure sewers and pumping stations. In Polotsk, an entirely new wastewater treatment plant will be constructed as the city has not got one at all. The objective is to make the wastewater treatment compliant with HELCOM standards. These much needed investments will benefit not only Belarus but also the neighbouring countries (Lithuania and Latvia) and ultimately the entire Baltic Sea region.
