Government of Netherlands helps Municipality of Vrbas – more than 9m EUR approved for water factory

Local self-government in Vrbas has received confirmation from the Government of Netherlands that total of 9,295,000 EUR has been approved for construction of water factory that will satisfy all needs of the municipality. Somewhat more than half of the amount - 4.846.000 EUR, is non-refundable aid, while the rest of the money will be approved as favorable loan and the guarantee should be provided by the Government of Republic of Serbia, which received information on the decision of the Dutch Government from the Ministry of Finance.

According to the words of Igora Bečić, the deputy mayor of Vrbas, one of the biggest problems will be solved in this way.

- Drinking water and Great Bačka Canal are the two biggest problems of our municipality for a long time. According to the existing project for construction of water factory, over 9m EUR is required and Municipality of Vrbas could not provide that kind of money by itself. That is why we asked Dutch Government for help and it gave positive reply to our appeal and provided these funds through ORET program – said Bečić.

According to his words, the contact with the Government of Netherlands was established in September 2006 when the local self-government worked on collecting of documentation requested by the Dutch.

- Municipality of Vrbas is the first municipality in Serbia that came this far with the negotiations and, in order for everything to be realized, Republic Government must provide guarantee for part of the funds in amount of 4,449,000 EUR, which are approved as a loan. I hope that our Government will not refuse non-refundable aid in amount of nearly 5m EUR from Netherlands - says Bečić.

According to the letter sent by Dutch Government to Municipality of Vrbas and Ministry of Finance, approved funds will be put at the disposal of the municipality already in June 2008.

The project for construction of water factory in Vrbas is already ready and, with small technical interventions, its realization can start very soon. The water factory in Vrbas will be situated along the road to Kucura.