The beginning of works within the project “Improvement of water and utility infrastructure in the Rijeka Agglomeration” co-financed by the European Union under the Cohesion Fund, one of the largest investments in water and utility infrastructure in Croatia was announced in the Rijeka City Hall.

The project envisages the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant on Delta, of a high second stage of purification, and the construction and reconstruction of about 217 kilometers of sewerage and 125 pumping stations. In addition, works will be carried out on about 100 kilometers of public water supply in two cities – Rijeka and Kastav and three municipalities – Viškovo, Čavle and Jelenje, which form the territory of the Rijeka Agglomeration.

ANDREJ MAROCHINI, MARKO FILIPOVIĆ AND VALENTIN DUJMOVIĆ

The first group of works will begin in December in the western part of Rijeka and they relate to the construction of transport collectors and the optimisation of the existing system, and the deadline for completion is 36 months. The value of the agreement for construction works is about HRK 215 million. The construction of 13.1 km of transport pipelines is envisaged that will drain wastewater from the agglomeration territory to the wastewater treatment plant on Delta and optimise the existing system by building a plant that will drain retentions and rain overflows. In addition to the construction of the drainage system, the reconstruction of 6.9 km of public water supply will be carried out.

The second group of works relates to the enlargement of Viškovo, and the deadline for completion is more than 65 months. The value of the agreement for construction works is about HRK 182 million.

“After thorough preparations, tenders and signed contracts with contractors, extensive works are underway within a large utility project for which we have been granted HRK 1.2 billion by the EU. This is, so to speak, a generation project that will ensure that in this area and in the decades to come we have clean and healthy drinking water and clean sea of the highest quality. Also, this is one of the largest projects in the Republic of Croatia concerning water agglomerations, both in terms of invested funds and the complexity of its implementation. Owing to this project, kilometres of the water supply and sewerage networks will be renewed and additionally built, and a new wastewater treatment plant will be built,” said Mayor Marko Filipović.

A contractor has been selected for the design and construction of a wastewater treatment plant in the Rijeka agglomeration, and the value of the selected offer is around HRK 523 million. The predicted deadline for the construction of the plant is 48 months.

Project financing

The value of the project “Improvement of water and utility infrastructure in the territory of the Rijeka agglomeration” amounts to HRK 1,761,563,462.00 (excluding VAT) and is co-financed by the European Union up to the amount of HRK 1,256,548,480.00 (excluding VAT), which makes 71.33% of the costs. The EU funds are provided under the Operational Programme “Competitiveness and Cohesion” for the period 2014-2020.

The remaining part of the project value in the amount of HRK 505,014,982.00, or 28.67%, will be provided from national funds for co-financing project costs. The Republic of Croatia, through the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy and the national entity for water management “Hrvatske vode”, provide the same amount of funds, HRK 185,164,000.00 each. The remaining HRK 134,687,000.00 of national funds will be provided by the utility company” Vodovod i kanalizacija” from a long-term financial loan.