Leningrad Olast Municipal Environment Investment Programme

Work on this project started in 1997 and a pre-feasibility study was finished in December 1998, which outlined a long-term investment program in 11 towns of the Leningrad Oblast. Progress was delayed by the financial crisis in Russia until preparatory work gained impetus again in 2000.

In 2001, five towns were selected by the Nordic Initiative group and its local partners for a pilot program to develop water supply and wastewater treatment in the Leningrad Oblast. They were Gatchina, Kirovsk, Pikalevo, Svetogorsk and Tikhvin.In 2002 Svetogorsk opted out of the project, leaving four towns as participants in the first phase. The combined population of the remaining towns is 198 500.

All four towns are faced with similar problems when it comes to water and wastewater management as a result of a long history of under-investments and limited institutional capacity of the local administrations in charge of the municipal services.To halt the deterioration of services and facilities, it is essential that the utilities and local authorities develop sustainability and self-reliance. The current project contains a broad array of measures, ranging from comprehensive institutional development initiatives to improve the institutional capacity and creditworthiness of the utilities, to concrete physical investments to expand and rehabilitate existing facilities.

A central Project Management Unit, Leningrad Oblast Communal Services (LOCS) which acts as a client and beneficiary of the NIB loan and NDEP grant, was set up on the level of the Regional Administration to handle issues common to the towns and co-ordinate activities of Project Implementation Units (PIU) at the municipal level.

The principal project components in each of the towns are:

• Rehabilitation of Water Distribution System
• Rehabilitation of Sewer System
• Rehabilitation of Waste Water Treatment Plant
• Planning and PIU Support
• Institutional Development Programme

The main goals to be attained at the municipal level are:

• Improved water quality and reliability of water supply
• Reduced environmental impact of Vodokanal operations through improvement and extension of treatment facilities
• Regulatory reform
• Introduction of new tariff policies targeting economic self-reliance
• Reduced operation costs and reduced investment need through improved water demand management
• Halt deterioration of facilities through rehabilitation
• Reduce O&M costs by replacing inefficient equipment.