Ankara, February 8, 2006— The World Bank, the Republic of Turkey and Iller Bank signed today the Agreements of a Euro € 212,900,000 (US$ 275.0m equivalent) Municipal Services Project for Turkey. Country Director Andrew Vorkink signed the Loan Agreement on behalf of the Bank together with the General Director Hidayet Atasoy and Bahaettin Kaptan, Deputy General Director from Iller Bank and the Guarantee Agreement with the General Director Memduh Aslan Akçay from Undersecretariat of Treasury. The project’s main objective is to support the Government’s sustainable environmental services in selected municipalities. To meet this objective the project will: support the development of municipal infrastructure to improve the environment and quality of water, wastewater, and solid waste management services. This development will be measured by the following indicators: reduction in water losses, increased volume of wastewater treated, increased number of water and sewerage connections, and use of sanitary landfill; support municipal utilities to strengthen their financial position, improve operational efficiency, and prepare and implement projects. This would be measured by the following indicators: improvement in working ratio, reduction of unaccounted for water, and successful completion of projects; and support the institutional strengthening of Iller Bank (IB) so that it is able to implement the project in a satisfactory manner.
Treasury is the Guarantor of the loan and Iller Bank will be in charge of the overall implementation of the project that is composed of the following components: a) Municipal Development to support investments in the water, wastewater, and solid waste sectors;
b) Municipal Technical Assistance to support preparation of feasibility studies, urban planning, preparation of bidding documents, and municipal utility operational improvement plans; and
c) Iller Bank Institutional strengthening to increase the financial and technical capacity, support incremental operating costs, and prepare audits.
 “Currently, 70% of Turkish citizens live in urban areas. This high urbanization leads to higher demand for better municipal services that affect the daily lives of citizens. The World Bank is pleased to help the Government of Turkey in focusing on water, wastewater, and solid waste investments which will bring cleaner and safer water, more sanitary landfills and improved environment conditions to citizens living in cities across Turkey, including larger urban areas like Kutahya, Serik and Mersin; mid-size urban areas including Bergama, Elbistan, Odemis, Mugla, Cankiri and Polatli and smaller areas such as Ilica, Gumusova and Gelibolu,” said Andrew Vorkink, Country Director for Turkey during the Loan signing ceremony. “Given the high rate of urbanization and the need to meet EU environmental directives, Turkey will need to sustain a high level of investments at the local level to develop local infrastructure. This project will contribute towards developing that infrastructure and promoting environmentally and financially sustainable services”.
The lending instrument for the Municipal Services Project is a Specific Investment Loan with a 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period.
For more information about this project click here. For more information about the World Bank’s work in Turkey, visit: http://www.worldbank.org.tr . For more information about this project, visit: http://www.worldbank.org/projects |
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