Citizens of Naryn in the Kyrgyz Republic will enjoy improved wastewater services thanks to a joint €6.5 million investment by the EBRD, the Government of Switzerland and the European Union (EU) in the municipal water service infrastructure at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the critical importance of high standards of hygiene and sanitation.

The Naryn financing package will include a 15-year EBRD loan of €2 million, a grant for capital investment and technical assistance of up to €3.5 million from the Government of Switzerland and a €1 million investment grant from the EU.

It will help address the consequences of decades of underinvestment in the municipal water and wastewater systems. The project will support the rehabilitation and extension of the main sewers, the purchase of operational and maintenance equipment and the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant in Naryn.

This will improve the city wastewater infrastructure resilience to climate change and public health challenges, optimise operating costs of the municipal water utility and increase the amount of citizens with regular access to wastewater services from 10,000 to 39,000 residents by 2024.

It builds on the successfully implemented previous phase of the project financed by a €2 million EBRD loan combined with a €3.6 million Swiss Government grant and mainly aimed at urgent repairs and the extension of the drinking water supply system in Naryn.

In addition, technical assistance of €1 million will be provided by the Government of Switzerland to help the Naryn water company implement the project, improve corporate practices and set up a stakeholder participation programme.

The support was provided in the framework of the Public Service Improvement Project, which is financed by the Swiss Government and implemented by Helvetas Kyrgyzstan and the Development Policy Institute.

The grant aid covers the following three components:

1. 4 100 000 KGS – financial support  for 26 local service providers;
2. 439400 KGS – support to purchase personal protective equipment for the municipalities and service providers 
3. 1 270 000 KGS – support to  municipalities in conducting the information campaigns

The financial aid for the service providers is allocated as subsidies through the local budgets. These subsidies will partially compensate the lack of providers’ regular income in the II-III quarters of 2020 due to difficult economic situation caused by the COVID crisis. The financial support will be used to cover the urgent expenses incurred by the local service providers (waste collection, drinking water) in the mentioned period.

To prevent the further spread of the virus and to protect the employees and local service providers in the municipalities, the project purchased 260 sets of PPE, including reusable protective suits, glasses, face shields and three layer medical masks.

The project also allocates funds for campaigns. It raises awareness on the importance of preventive hygiene measures and the important role of the local service providers in the prevention of the epidemic spreadingIt also appeals to citizens’ sense of  social responsibility related to the due bill payments for the delivered services in order to keep the providers and services sustinable and continue to receive them.

The Swiss grant program helps the targeted municipalities in the two regions to support local service providers and prevent their bankruptcy along with service suspension at the local level.