North Macedonia

Water and Wastewater Services in the Danube Region - A state of the sector

This regional state of the sector review and makes an overall assessment of the state of the sector in 16 countries in the Danube region along different dimensions - namely the context for services, the organization of services, access to services, performance of services and the financing of services.

Water and Wastewater Services in the Danube Region - A state of the sector

This note is part of a regional state of the sector review and makes an overall assessment of the state of the sector along different dimensions - namely the context for services, the organization of services, access to services, performance of services and the financing of services.

ADKOM's bulletin for the period April - August 2018.

ADKOM is the representative of the interests of the public communal utilities in the country and is a reliable partner in their daily operations. Following the world standards, as well as the needs in the country, ADKOM organized the 10th international conference on "Water and Waste - Reality and Challenges".

The conference was held on April 23-26, 2018 in Ohrid, and it was organized in cooperation with PE "Vodovod i Kanalizacija" Skopje, PE "Komunalna Higiena" Skopje, as well as with the assistance of the sponsors.

The main goal of the international conference was to study the various options that could be taken to “modernize” the regulation of the water sector in the Republic of Macedonia, in order to promote truly sustainable utility companies that protect our environment whilst ensuring services of safe water supply and waste water reuse at national level.

Conference videos: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg23hrlDdXY 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvPOTtQyA54

The Republic of Macedonia is not much represented in the interstate studies and infrastructure databases (compared to electricity and telecommunication sectors) due to limited publicly available data, especially in respect of quality, security and affordability of services. Standard statistical publications have very limited data, even when it comes to water supply services and water consumption.

The objective of this study is, by conducting a survey among public utilities (PUs), to obtain data that could help us get the state of facts about the situation and prospects of the utilities sector in the Republic of Macedonia.

The overall objective of the project is to establish an economic instrument for the implementation of the first steps in the application of the "polluter pays" principle in the water sector related to further development of financially sustainable water investment projects.

One of the criteria for participation in the Municipal Services Improvement Project (MSIP), provided by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and financed by the World Bank, aimed at supporting infrastructural projects of municipalities, is that municipal utilities are ADKOM members and they provide their contribution to the expansion of the IBNET database by completing the submitted questionnaires.
Two questionnaires (Toolkit - data and indicators questionnaire; Data Reliability Protocol- questionnaire for self-assessment of utilities in terms of reliability of input data) were filled out within the project, in which 28 utilities participated as of 12.12.2013.
This project is a continuation of the first IBNET benchmarking project implemented in 2008 by ADKOM and IBNET (the World Bank).
This Benchmarking Report presents the results of the performed analysis of delivered data and calculated indicators, and is intended for all utilities in the communal sector, such as water supply, sewerage and solid waste enterprises (utilities, municipalities, government agencies and ministries), which can use the presented data for developing and monitoring of the performance of companies in different areas, for defining development strategies and for identifying weak spots and investment requirements. The initial report was presented and discussed at the benchmarking workshop organized by ADKOM and held on 12.11.2013 in Skopje.

The Government of Macedonia has received a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the amount of Euro 50 million for improvements of water supply and sanitation service in the country, and in particular in the rural area. To meet the EIB requirements in concomitant with and European Union (EU) Directives goals for water supply the Government of Macedonia, central and local authorities, will have to cope with a number of challenges, and overcome a number of barriers that impede the anticipated goals of water supply and sanitation sector.

The Report is composed of three main parts, complying with the three tasks set out in the TOR, which are the following: (I) Critical Assessment of Institutional Setup (TASK A); (II) Definition of a Preliminary Investment Programme (TASK B); and (III) Assessment of the current PIU and its future needs (TASK C).

This water stratey resumes facts from the field of water legal and institutional framework. It comprehends conclusions on state of water with separately investigated general river basin characteristics, state of water use, state of river training and protection against harmful effects of water and state of water protection. Ascertainment on state of water are starting point for
defining water management objectives and consequently programme of measures that is upgraded with economical issues. These segments are summarised in water vision for the future that is not care only of the state or government but is care of every individual that creates our common living space.

This water stratey resumes facts from the field of water legal and institutional framework. It comprehends conclusions on state of water with separately investigated general river basin characteristics, state of water use, state of river training and protection against harmful effects of water and state of water protection. Ascertainment on state of water are starting point for
defining water management objectives and consequently programme of measures that is upgraded with economical issues. These segments are summarised in water vision for the future that is not care only of the state or government but is care of every individual that creates our common living space.