The Minister of the Environment approved the objectives of the distribution of subsidies for the development of water management infrastructure, activities to be supported and terms and conditions for the grant applicant for the new budgetary period of the European Union. From 2014–2020, a total of 144 million euros will be targeted at the development of water management.
“So far, we have been able to contribute more than 470 million euros from the European Union structural funds. The projects have helped to connect many Estonian residents to the clean drinking water and public water supply and sewerage systems, however, there a still homes, where clean drinking water has remained just a wish. Therefore, we will continue with the water management projects also during the new period,” Minister of the Environment Mati Raidma said.
The goal of supporting the development of water management is to ensure high-quality drinking water and proper wastewater collection and treatment, contributing to the improvement of the condition of the Estonian water bodies and the Baltic Sea.
“High-quality drinking water should already be elementary in modern living environment. Another important goal is to reduce the amount of pollutants reaching nature through the improvement of wastewater treatment and achieve a cleaner living environment for both humans and nature as a result,” Raidma specified.
The Environmental Investment Centre will announce the call for proposals at the beginning of this year. The applicant may be a water company fully owned by one or several local governments, who is the owner of the water management infrastructure of the project region. The maximum level of the European Union support is 85% of the eligible costs of the application.