Sibiu Municipality Loan - Phase II

complete

The EBRD is considering a loan of up to EUR 27 million (or RON equivalent) to Sibiu Municipality (the “Municipality” or the “City”) to be provided in two tranches of up to EUR 11.5 million committed and up to EUR 15.5 million un-committed (to be committed within the next two years) for a comprehensive street rehabilitation programme and construction of one small road bridge. Tranche I to be used for investments in street rehabilitation and construction of the bridge to improve traffic and lessen congestion on they key transport routes of the City. The new bridges is alongside existing structures. This phase of the Project will create a platform for introduction and implementation of a performance based management and maintenance of roads (PMMR) contract through a special feasibility study aimed at defining a local network to be covered under such contract. Rehabilitation works of primary and secondary streets will include renewal of asphalt and pavements, including upgrade of water and sewage pipeline along the streets. The construction of one road bridge will create extra lanes for cars and additional pedestrian walkways. The project will assist the City to shape a sustainable, well-managed urban transportation system in Sibiu. Transition goals of the operation include: Framework for markets: Output-based out-sourcing: better value for money will be achieved by wrapping multi-year maintenance activities into the urban road maintenance sector under the PMMR multi-year contracting modality, to also include the maintenance of street lighting. Transfer of skills: The technical assistance for the PIU for development, preparation, training needs and implementation of the PMMR contracting, which will also include the maintenance of public lighting, will lead to a transfer of skills to the City’s staff employed at the Traffic and Infrastructure Departments responsible for design, execution and management of the road network in the City. Demonstration: the introduction of PMMR in Sibiu represents the first time this will be done at the urban level in Romania. (MEI's previous effort was with Brasov County roads.) PMMR will provide the foundation for a broader effort, to be promoted through dialogue at the national level, to introduce Transport Asset Management across the principal cities in Romania. Once implemented, PMMR and Asset Management can be expected to be replicated by other leading cities in the country. Sibiu Municipality. Up to EUR 26.5 million loan to the City to be provided in two tranches of up to EUR 11.5 million committed and up to EUR 15.0 million un-committed (to be committed within the next two years). Up to EUR 32.4 million. Categorised B (2008). The environmental and social due diligence, which included an independent audit and analysis, confirmed that the environmental and social impacts associated with the street rehabilitation programme and construction of one small road bridge will be mainly positive. The due diligence also confirmed that there will be no physical or economic displacement as a result of the Project and concluded that the management capacity of the Company to manage EHS and social issues will need to be developed during project implementation. There will be localised moderate impacts during the road improvement works related to noise, dust and vibration, generation and disposal of waste and temporary traffic restrictions. However, a comprehensive environmental and social action plan (ESAP) for Sibiu road rehabilitation has been developed to avoid, minimise and mitigate any potential adverse environmental and social impacts and liabilities arising from the project's construction and operation, and to ensure compliance with the respective EBRD's Performance Requirements (PRs). The ESAP will form part of the Loan Agreement. A Stakeholder Engagement Plan is prepared to ensure that communication with the relevant stakeholders is handled properly throughout project preparation and implementation, including the appropriate grievance procedure. The Municipality will submit to EBRD annual reports on environmental and social matters including progress on the implementation of the environmental and social action plan. It is expected that Technical Cooperation assistance will be provided to assist the city of Sibiu for: It is anticipated that the above TC assignments will be financed from the Bank’s own resources. It is anticipated that the above TC assignments will be financed by the loan.