Construction of 5,000 Kilometers of Sewer and 159 Waste Water Treatment Facilities Planned – First Phase on 16 Locations in Progress

Within the “Clean Serbia” project, the plan is to build 5,000 kilometers of the missing sewer network and 159 waste water treatment facilities of various sizes in the territories of 73 local self-government units. The value of this project is EUR 3.2 billion and it is financed from a Chinese loan. The first phase of the project is in progress, in the territories of 14 self-government units, that is, 16 locations, and this phase entails the construction of 680 kilometers of sewer and 25 waste water treatment facilities, the assistant minister of construction, transport and infrastructure of Serbia, Dusan Radonjic, said for RTS, as announced by the ministry.

– At the moment, we are at 60% of the realization of the construction of the sewer network, whereas the facilities are in the design phase. The second phase of the project is ready as well, and it entails, in addition to the construction of a sewer network, the construction of nine waste water treatment facilities in the territories of nine local self-government units. We are only waiting for the second tranche of the Chinese loan – he said.

Radonjic cited “Veliko Selo” as the second important project of the ministry, which entails the construction of a central city waste water filter of Belgrade, equivalent to 1.5 million residents. The project has two phases, the first of which, he explained, envisages the construction of a central city collector which is supposed to collect waste waters from a major part of the city. At the moment, he says, the designing is being completed, and the construction works on the collector are expected to begin in the second half of this year.

He said that the second phase entailed the construction of the facility itself in Veliko Selo and that, at that moment, the input parameters, that is, the technology and other things that would be part of that facility, had not been fully specified.

– For example, whether it will be a regional center for the treatment of hazardous sludge for the Sumadija Region or just for the City of Belgrade, in which percentage will gas and electrical energy be produced, since it is clear that a facility of such dimensions will have big electricity costs, and the idea is not to burden the citizens of Belgrade with excessive utility fees – Radonjic said.

As the third program, he cited the program of the German development bank, which had been realized in Serbia for 15 years through the program of Serbian-German partnership, and through which, in the previous year (2023), the most modern facility for the treatment of waste waters, equivalent to 70,000 residents, had been built and put into operation in Vranje.

– At the moment we have prepared projects for another four facilities in four cities – Pozarevac, Trstenik, Jagodina and Pirot – Radonjic said and also reminded of the projects of the repair of the existing waste water treatment facilities, which were being realized through the grants of the Hungarian development agency HEPA.

When asked how the problem of industrial waste waters will be solved, Radonjic says that the solving of the issue of waste waters makes no sense unless both components are solved.

– There is a decree which proscribes the obligation for all industry to be adapted by the end of 2025, which means to have a waste water treatment facility in each facility, or to bring them to the level of pollution where they can be poured into the sewer – he said.

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

KfW kancelarija Beograd

Ministry of Construction Transport and Infrastructure

German development bank

HEPA

Dusan Radonjic

waste water treatment facility Veliko Selo Belgrade

waste water treatment facility Vranje