The loans are extended under the €40m ($43.52m) Belarus Water Sector Framework, which will also be expanded to other municipalities across the country.
It will help modernise water and wastewater treatment facilities, rehabilitate corresponding networks, modernise pumping stations and finance the purchase of maintenance equipment in the towns of Lida, Polotsk and Orsha.
Subprojects of €6m ($6.53m) in Lida (western Belarus) and of €9m ($9.79m) in Polotsk (northern Belarus) will help local utilities comply with EU standards for wastewater treatment and will follow recommendations by the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission to bring significant environmental benefits to the local population and reduce the pollution of the Baltic Sea basin.
The Polotsk subproject also envisages the construction of a brand new wastewater treatment facility.
The subprojects will be co-financed by investment grants of €3m ($3.26m) and €4.21m ($4.58m), respectively, provided by the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership.
Pre-investment feasibility studies for both Lida and Polotsk were implemented with the help of technical cooperation funds provided by the government of Sweden.
A loan of €6m ($6.53m) to the municipality of Orsha (north-eastern Belarus) will also help it to comply with EU standards for wastewater treatment and reduce the pollution of the Black Sea basin.
The Orsha subproject will be co-financed by an investment grant of up to €3m ($3.26m) by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and other international donors.
A pre-investment feasibility study for Orsha was implemented with the help of technical cooperation funds provided by the government of Sweden.
EBRD Policy and Partnerships acting vice president Alain Pilloux said: “This framework is a good example of opportunities available for public sector companies under the EBRD’s newly adopted country strategy for Belarus.
"By improving water services in these three municipalities we are not only providing the local population with better quality drinking water but also making local utilities sustainable and environmentally friendly”.
Since the start of its operations in Belarus in 1992, the EBRD has invested almost €1.8bn ($19.6bn) in some 70 projects in various sectors of the country's economy.
