Elbasan Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Concession

Cancelled

In April 2002 the Albanian Government and Elber Sh.p.k. signed a concession contract to operate the water and wastewater systems in Elbasan, Albania. The city of Elbasan, located about 60km south-eastern of Tirana, had some 100,000 inhabitants in 2002. The concession was part of a larger project to improve the provision of water and sewage services in Elbasan. The project included infrastructure investments financed by the Albanian government. According to the concession contract the main responsibilities of Elber Sh.p.k. were: • Secure the water supply by rehabilitating existing wells and constructing new ones. • Rehabilitate and expand the existing water supply network to cover 98.5% of the population. • Eliminate illegal water connections and reduce unaccounted water losses down to 15% • Establish a reliable wastewater disposal facility. • Reduce response time to unplanned interruptions to 2h. • Increase the water supply to the city of Elbasan from 4 hours per day to 24 hours per day within the next few years. Elber Sh.p.k. had the right to adjust water tariffs and cut off non-paying customers. The concessionaire planned to invest some DEM 17 million ($12.7 million) to reach the goals set in the concession agreement. The Albanian government committed to invest a further DEM 30 (US$ 19) million. German bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) funded DEM 23.5 (US$ 11) million through a loan given to the Albanian government. Elber Sh.p.k. was a subsidiary of German Berlinwasser International Aktiengesellschaft (BWI) and RODECO Consulting GmbH. On November 1, 2006, the government of Albania decided to cancel the contract by buying Berlinwasser's 100% stake in Elber for 10,000 leks ($103/80 euro). By December 2006, there was no further goverment's statement on the contract or reasons for the cancellation. None None