July 2024 Archives

70 percent of the first phase of the “Clean Serbia” project completed

Posted on 29. July 2024. by administrator

Minister Goran Vesić stated that 70% of the first phase of the Clean Serbia project has been completed.

“It is a project with an investment value of 3.5 billion euros and should cover 73 local self-government units in 93 locations, with 159 wastewater treatment plants,” said the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Goran Vesić. According to him, these are small plants for the processing of waste water, but there are also large ones, such as the plant in Novi Sad, which is equivalent to 300,000 residents.

“In the first phase of the project, which is more than 70 percent completed, sewers were built in 16 locations. The total value of the first phase is 336 million euros, 680 kilometers of sewage are being built and 25 wastewater treatment plants are being built, mostly smaller plants,” said Vesić. The value of the second phase of the project is 216 million euros, and according to the minister, the construction of a sewage network and a plant in nine locations is planned in the second phase, which will cover 50,000 residents.

Minister Vesic particularly emphasized that more kilometers of sewerage and waste water treatment plants have never been built than are being built now.

Wastewater treatment plants in accordance with the EU directive

Posted on 29. July 2024.29. July 2024. by administrator

Last year, the decree of the Government of Serbia was changed, which is now in line with all European directives, and an obligation was introduced to include tertiary treatment at all plants that are built for the processing of waste water, except for small ones, because those do not require such treatment, which is in line with the EU directive, said Goran Vesić, Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure.

Responding to remarks in the Serbian Parliament, he added that annexes are being worked out with Chinese CRBC contractors, within which they are obliged to accept technology and processing in accordance with the EU directives.

This is how the facilities are being built within the “Clean Serbia” project and all other facilities will be built this way, Vesić said and emphasized that “Clean Serbia” is not the only project where sewage is being built and thanked the German Development Bank KfV, which has several very good projects, the Bank of the European Council, but also cities and municipalities because they themselves invest when it comes to sewage.

Vesić stated that as someone in whose ministry the “Clean Serbia” project is being implemented, he is ready to hear any proposal on how that process can be accelerated.

Ecology: Environmental damage is not measured only in money

Posted on 24. July 2024.24. July 2024. by administrator

The monthly “Business and Finance” reported the assessment of legal experts, which states that the criminal law protection of the environment in Serbia is generally good, if it were to be implemented.

As stated, when the legislator adopted the new Criminal Code in 2006, he set aside a special part declaring the environment a legal good, worthy of protection.

Assistant professor of criminal law at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, Ivana Marković, clarified that the domestic criminal legislation does not directly prohibit any behavior that endangers the environment, but that water, air and soil pollution is tolerated up to a certain limit. “This is the case at the level of the whole of Europe, and the similarity is also in the fact that the regulations related to environmental protection are connected with a multitude of other regulations, mainly in the field of administrative law”, stated Marković and added that, when a regulation is found that corresponds to a specific case, another problem becomes apparent. “In order to assess whether something is or is not water, air or soil pollution, you must also have technical knowledge in the specific field. Therefore, expertise is necessary.”

As she specified, of the 18 prescribed criminal acts in the field of the environment, 90 percent of the verdicts refer to forest theft, or to illegal hunting and fishing. “It is essentially a property crime, so it is tried for what is directly visible and tangible, while the elements of criminal acts in other environmental crimes are very abstract for state authorities,” Marković believes.

Vanja Bajović, professor of criminal procedural law at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, pointed out that legal entities bear the greatest responsibility in environmental crimes.

“It is debatable that only financial damage is considered in criminal proceedings. However, ecological damage cannot be measured only by money,” Bajović said, as reported by the monthly magazine “Biznis i finansije”.

Progress in the field of sewage infrastructure

Posted on 20. July 2024. by administrator

In the report of the Fiscal Council on Public Investment Policy in Serbia from June in 2024, it is stated that there will be a shift in the field of sewage construction of infrastructure created at the beginning of the “Clean Serbia” project.

In the area of water protection from pollution, which in Serbia is practically only in its infancy, the main problems remain insufficiently branched sewerage network and few, often outdated waste processing facilities water from households and factories,” the report states, adding that only 67 percent of the population has access to the sewage network (in in CEE countries it is 85 percent).

The report also states that the situation with waste processing is water more dramatic. “Less than 20 percent of the population of Serbia has access to any kind of wastewater treatment, while in CEE countries their share is 86%, and in the EU it is almost 93%” is stated in the report of the Fiscal Council Public Investment Policy in Serbia from June 2024.

The first movement from the “dead center” did not happen until 2021 when the implementation of the first phase of the “Clean Serbia” project officially began, which the construction of about 5,200 kilometers of sewage network is announced and 165 wastewater treatment plants, which includes almost half of Serbia’s total infrastructure needs in this area, part is the statement and interpretation of the mentioned report.

Clean Serbia: Mali Zvornik prepares documentation

Posted on 17. July 2024. by administrator

At the session of the local parliament in Mali Zvornik, deputy municipal attorney Marko Lukić informed the councilors about the imminent start of the “Clean Serbia” project.

Marko Lukić, deputy municipal attorney, told the councilors that the Municipality of Mali Zvornik joined the “Clean Serbia” state project, which envisages the construction of a sewage network and wastewater treatment plant on the territory of the municipality of Mali Zvornik, and that the said project includes the design and execution of works, while is the obligation of the municipality of Mali Zvornik to settle property and legal relations for the construction of a sewage network and wastewater treatment plant on the territory of the local self-government.

The “Clean Serbia” project for the Municipality of Mali Zvornik, with the aim of protecting the Drina River, envisages the construction of 52 kilometers of sewage network. The realization of the project envisages coverage of 7250 households.

Minister Mali: “Clean Serbia” is among the key projects

Posted on 14. July 2024. by administrator

The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Siniša Mali, speaking for Blic television, said that in addition to numerous investments in infrastructure and economy, Serbia has never invested in ecology. Among the key projects, Minister Mali mentioned the “Clean Serbia” project.

“Today, Serbia is finding its sources of growth and wants to position itself well in the world in terms of the competitiveness of its economy, which will ensure even higher salaries and pensions and a better standard of living for citizens,” said Minister Mali.

The minister added that there was never more investment in ecology, and in that context, he mentioned projects such as “Clean Serbia”, factories for wastewater treatment, new sewage systems, and commitment to the green agenda.

All of the above, according to the minister, affects the better living standards of citizens, but also protects the environment.

Clean Serbia: Sewerage for Svilajnac villages as well

Posted on 10. July 2024. by administrator

As many as four villages in the Municipality of Svilajnac will receive through the “Clean Serbia” project sewage network. The works are taking place according to the expected dynamics.

Troponje, Kusiljevo, Subotica and Sedlare are the four villages of Svilajnac Municipality where works on the construction of the sewage network are underway.

In Kusilje, the construction of 31,513m of gravity sewerage and 940.5m of pressure sewerage was planned, of which 21,691m of gravity and 533m of pressure sewerage were completed by the first week of July.

In the village of Sedlare, the project envisages the construction of 10,590 m of gravity sewerage and 1,558m of pressure sewerage. The works were carried out in a length of 8,303 m of gravity and 684 m of pressure sewers.

In the village of Subotica, the implementation of the “Clean Serbia” project envisages the construction of 10,666 m of gravity sewerage, and 8,972 m have been constructed so far.

In the village of Troponje, the project foresees 16,638 m of gravity sewerage and 230 m of pressure sewerage, of which 9,926m of gravity sewerage has been completed.

The mentioned works are taking place within the first phase of the project, the value of which is around 30 million euros. The second phase of this project includes the villages of Grabovac, Crkvenac, Dublje, part of Svilajnec and the construction of a wastewater treatment plant.

When the entire project is finished, about 70 percent of the citizens of the municipality of Svilajnac will have regulated sewage.

Clean Serbia: Kragujevac, a large construction site

Posted on 10. July 2024. by administrator

As part of the Clean Serbia project in Kragujevac, works are underway at several locations.

Works that currently include excavation are being carried out in Ulica Ljubomira

Naumovića and Milovan Ilić Minimax, Bresnica settlement, while the works in the Ilićevo settlement in Ulica 19. Oktober, involve arranging the manholes.

As previously confirmed by Ivica Momčilović, the President of the City Assembly

Kragujevac, the construction of the sewage network in the settlements of Stanovo, Vinogradi, Beloševac, Maršić and Opornica has been completed so far.

The construction of the sewerage network will be started in the next days also in the settlement of Korman, where the construction of about 2 km of the sewerage network is planned.

Ecology: A good example of practice in Sokobanja

Posted on 10. July 2024. by administrator

All over the world there are different technologies for the application of waste water, whether it is purified and returned to certain industrial plants or used in other ways for different needs. One of the examples of good practice in the utilization of waste water is the case in Sokobanja, for the application of which the local self-government received certain recognitions.

Namely, in Sokobanja, waste geothermal water from the spa complex is used for heating the joint facility of the secondary and primary schools.

Waste hot water from the Old Turkish Bath is used to heat the school building, where the coal-fired boiler room has been replaced by a heat pump. It is planned to expand this system to other public facilities, including a kindergarten.

In the world, integration with wastewater treatment plants with district heating systems is widely used, where thermal energy from purified wastewater is used for heating residential and commercial buildings.

These approaches not only help reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, but also contribute to the sustainable management of wastewater and resources in urban and industrial environments.

Clean Serbia: Works in Kragujevac at full capacity

Posted on 2. July 2024.2. July 2024. by administrator

The first phase of works within the “Clean Serbia” project on the construction of the missing sewage network began in the Kragujevac settlements of Bresnica and Ilićevo.

As part of the “Clean Serbia” project, 33 kilometers of the 42 kilometers under the contract have been completed so far, said Ivica Momčilović, president of the Kragujevac City Assembly.

“As part of the “Clean Serbia” project, a total of 360 kilometers of sewage network will be constructed, the mayor reminded, and the streets planned by the project in the settlements of Stanovo, Vinogradi, Beloševac, Maršić and Opornica have been completed. I hope that we will be able to complete the entire project within a reasonable period of time. In addition to the reconstruction and construction of a new sewage network, which to this extent has never happened in this area, all other open construction sites are equally important for the citizens who gravitate to those streets,” said Momčilović.

He announced that in the coming period, works will begin in Užice Republike Street in a length of about three kilometers, then in Korman and another part in the Beloševac settlement.

“The project covering the streets in Bresnica 3 and Ilićevo will solve the decades-long problem of citizens who only had surface sewage. The completion of the first phase of the works is underway and we are already preparing for the second,” said Nikola Dašić, the mayor of Kragujevac.