Building upon previous work on this topic by the World Bank under the Danube Water Program and ICPDR have joined hands to organize a regional knowledge exchange one-day event titled "Financial sustainability of wastewater management in Danube region". This event aims at enhancing the financial sustainability of wastewater services in Danube region, by providing interested and committed government and utility representatives with the appropriate knowledge, exposure and expertise to support sustainable modernization efforts in wastewater management sector.

The workshop will be opened with a presentation of findings from a Review of financial sustainability of wastewater management in Danube River Basin, specifically prepared for this workshop, that will help in gaining better insights on status and challenges of financial sustainability of wastewater management in the Danube region, and support the identification of the needs, priorities and possible best practices for sustainable management of wastewater infrastructure in light of EU directive compliance.

The event will be strucutred in to three sessions, focused on: (i) Presenting the status of financial sustainability of wastewater management in Danube region , by presenting findings of existing advisory and analytical works or studies prepared on topic of wastewater management financing and financial sustainability,

(ii) Presenting actions toward achieving sustainable wastewater management at policy level, by presenting experiences from individual countries, including policy and regulatory-related challenges, development of national strategies, tariff setting, financial sustainability, service affordability, ect.

(iii) Presenting examples of good practices in development of sustainable wastewater services at utility level, where representatives from individual utilities or consultants will present their experience (focusing on O&M costs, selecting the right technology, and longer term business and investment planning)  

Please check the draft Agenda below for further information!

The Organizers

The workshop "Financial sustainability of wastewater management in Danube region" is organised by:

Presentations

Session 1
Setting the Scene – Considerations for sustainable financing of wastewater services

3 February, 10:15 – 11:30

Framing the issue - presentation on financial sustainability of WWM in the Danube region
(Mr. Rado Russev, Expert Consultant, World Bank)

OECD study on financing the WSS sector
(Mr. Xavier Leflaive, OECD, Environment Directorate)

Financial challenges and funding instruments in WWT in the Danube region
(Mr. Balazs Horvath, EUSDR Priority Area 4)

Session 2
Towards achieving sustainable wastewater management at policy level

3 February, 11:45 – 13:00

Regulators approach to securing suitability of service provision
(Mr. Christian Minelli, Head of WAREG Secretariat)

WSS service organization and regionalization – Hungary experience
(Mr. Gabor Kisvardai, Head of Secretariat, Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority)

Challenges of UWWTD policy – Romania experience
(Mr. Ivaylo Hristov Kolev, Senior Water Supply and Sanitation Specialist, World Bank)

Session 3
Good practices in the development of sustainable wastewater services

3 February, 14:00 – 15:30

Experience in developing sustainable wastewater services from consultants
(Mr. Jesper Karup Pedersen, Senior Economist, PhD, Policy, Planning and Infrastructure Development, COWI)

EU approach and experience in evaluation (CBA) and ensuring sustainability of EU financed WSS services
(Mr. David Tagg, water financial expert, JASPERS)

Private sector examples of good practices in development of sustainable wastewater services
(Mr. Benoit Samanos, Business Development Director Central Europe, SUEZ)

Achieving and maintaining financial sustainability of water utilities in Danube region, training tolls and experience
(Ms. Ines Delić, Program Coordinator, Aquasan Network, BiH)

Utility experience in achieving sustainability of wastewater management – operator point of view
(Mr. Teodor Popa, Financial Manager of APA Brasov, Romania)

Session 4
Key messages and Closing

3 February, 15:30 - 16:00

Summary and Conclusions
(Mr. Rado Russev, Expert Consultant, World Bank)

Institutional Partners

The organization of the workshop "Financial sustainability of wastewater management in Danube region" has been made possible through institutional support from: