Kaliningrad's purification plant is finally clear - Coalition Clean Baltic

3/29/2018

Kaliningrad's purification plant is finally clear - is expected to have a very beneficial effect on the Baltic Sea


After tens of years and many millions, the new purification plant in Kaliningrad is now clear. IMAGE: SIDA

MIKAEL SJÖVALL 7.6.2017 10:28 UPDATED 7.6.2017 13:53

666 reactions

A new sewage treatment plant is being opened in the Russian enclave Kaliningrad today. The new sewage treatment plant, which treats waste water from more than 400,000 people, is expected to have a very beneficial effect on the Baltic's ecological state. Work on upgrading the city's sewage treatment has been a long-term driver, but the project has been overshadowed by famously delays and irregularities that concern the procurement of subcontractors. "The work on effecting drainage in Kaliningrad started already during the Soviet era in the 1970s. After the Soviet Union's disintegration in 1991, the project was resumed and resumed only in 2000. The actual work on upgrading the purification plant started only in 2010 when the federal authorities in Russia pumped money into the project, "says Mikhail Durkin , chief executive officer at Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB) in Uppsala. Kaliningrad sewage treatment plant has been classified by the Baltic Sea Commission Helcom as the Baltic https://www.hbl.fi/artikel/kaliningrads-reningsverk-antligen-klart-beraknas-ha-en-mycket-gynnsam-inverkan-pa-ostersjon/

1/3

3/29/2018


source's largest source of sources of pollutant emissions. According to Helcom's terminology, the treatment plant has been classified as a "hot spot", which is a diplomatic rewriting to point out the critical pollution of the Baltic Sea. - The sewage treatment plant in Kaliningrad is still classified as an active hot spot. The purification plant can be removed from our list of critical emission sources if it meets the Baltic Sea Commission's requirements and recommendations. This requires a review of emissions from at least one year's time, "said expert Dmitry FrankKamenetsky at Helcom.

Great importance The upgraded sewage treatment plant is expected to reduce the annual phosphorus emissions by 273 tonnes, equivalent to seven percent of Finland's annual phosphorus emissions. In addition, the new treatment plant reduces nitrogen emissions by about 1,400 tonnes per year. "For ordinary people in Kaliningrad, this investment means that the locals are no longer plagued by odors from stinky wastewater that were previously led into an open rink that was ringing along the country road to Baltijsk," describes Mikhail Durkin. The use of the new waste water treatment plant is available at a total of 85 million euros. The funding package has been puzzled by a wide range of players. In addition to local forces such as Kaliningrad's city, Vodokanal and the Russian state, the international financial institutions, the Nordic Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have granted loans for the realization of the project. "Environmental issues belong to our key core areas. It feels good that we have finally achieved goals with this project. Considering that it has already expired 150,000 cubic meters of untreated wastewater each day from Kaliningrad city, it is an incredible advance for the Baltic Sea that these emissions are now being cleaned, says Deputy CEO Thomas Wrangdahl at the Nordic Investment Bank.

Long nightmare https://www.hbl.fi/artikel/kaliningrads-reningsverk-antligen-klart-beraknas-ha-en-mycket-gynnsam-inverkan-pa-ostersjon/

2/3

3/29/2018


In addition to borrowed money, the Swedish aid agency Sida and the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) have contributed with gifts. For Sida's part, the opening of the day means a happy end to a nightmare that has guessed the Swedish authorities for decades. Sida has spent about SEK 145 million on upgrading the waste water treatment plant and has been involved in the fluctuations when the project has been postponed in different rounds. "Almost all sewage treatment projects in Kaliningrad with surrounding areas have experienced long delays. It's worrying. Local politicians want to delay the completion of the projects in all possible ways. Often discovered after late work or serious flaws, which means that the treatment plants do not fulfill the function they have been built for, "says Director Ilja Sjumanov at Transparency International's office in Kaliningrad. In 2007, the Swedish television program Kalla Facts stated that the Russian project owners refused to comply with international procurement rules. The Russian National Audit Office has also noted shortcomings in the management of the project. But now the treatment plant is complete. Even so, much remains to be done. According to CCB's estimates, only 85 percent of all households in Kaliningrad are connected to the city's sewage network. Many newly built villas in the city have insufficient systems for the treatment of wastewater. The sewage network has also seen its best days. A large part of the drainage pipes have more than 100 years on the neck and originate from the German era when Kaliningrad was named Königsberg and belonged to Preussen. There has thus been a lot of unspoiled water under the bridges of Königsberg and Kaliningrad. A large part of the old environmentalists have been stored in the bottom sediment of the lagoon Primorskaja beside Baltijsk (former Pillau). - The Polish authorities are planning to build a channel on the Vistula Peninsula. In the worst case scenario, this project could lead to environmental pollution, heavy metals and overbearing nutrients coming into circulation and burdening the Baltic Sea, "said Mikhail Durkin. https://www.hbl.fi/artikel/kaliningrads-reningsverk-antligen-klart-beraknas-ha-en-mycket-gynnsam-inverkan-pa-ostersjon/

3/3