EBRD and EU: 2.64 Million Euros for Landfill Cleanup
Signed in Belgrade on August 24, the agreement brings 2.64 million euros in grants for technical documents to clean up 17 landfills in the Pirot, Sremska Mitrovica and Valjevo regions.
Serbia’s Ministry of Environmental Protection has received a grant of 2.64 million euros from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), channeled through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), the European Union’s main platform for infrastructure investment in the region. The technical cooperation agreement was signed on August 24 in Belgrade between the ministry and the EBRD, as part of preparations for a tender to clean up 17 unsanitary landfills across Serbia.
The funds will go toward technical and tender documentation for closing, rehabilitating, remediating and restoring landfills in three regions: Pirot, Macva (Sremska Mitrovica) and Kolubara (Valjevo). According to the ministry, the project is meant to improve waste management for roughly 800,000 people.
“My heart is full that today we signed a grant worth more than two million euros, with the support of our partners and friends from the European Union, the EBRD and the AFD,” said Environment Minister Sara Pavkov at the signing ceremony in Belgrade.
In her remarks, the minister described the amount as “more than two million euros,” while the official statement puts the exact figure at 2.64 million euros. Pavkov announced that priority will go to cleaning up the unsanitary landfills in Babusnica, Bela Palanka and Dimitrovgrad in the Pirot region, with sites in the Macva and Kolubara regions to follow.
Who Are the Project’s Partners?
EBRD cites the risk that existing unsanitary landfills pose to soil, groundwater and air quality in surrounding communities as the reason for its involvement. The project is part of a broader program financed jointly by the EBRD, the European Union and the French Development Agency (AFD), aimed at establishing modern regional municipal waste management systems and raising Serbia’s recycling rate.
The signing was attended by Andreas von Bekerath, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, who said the agreement marked an important step for environmental and public health protection, adding that building landfills must be the last resort in waste management, not the default option.
The EBRD has so far invested more than one billion euros in Serbia’s environmental infrastructure sector, and according to its website, its total investment in the country exceeds 11 billion euros, making it one of the largest institutional investors in Serbia. The Kalenic regional waste management center, the largest and most complex of the planned facilities, covers 15 local municipalities and has already entered trial operation, while a new regional landfill in Kalenic and a composting plant in Pirot have already been completed, according to the EU and the EBRD, with work continuing in Nova Varos, Pirot and Sremska Mitrovica.
