In May 2015, former Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri and former president of the EBRD Sir Suma Chakrabarti signed a loan agreement of EUR 7 million for the construction of a new landfill in Kvemo Kartli. Almost 7 years after the signing the contract, no new landfill has been built, moreover, no tender has been announced for it. According to the project, the solid waste landfill in line with the European standards had to receive the first garbage in 2018.
The EBRD announced a tender for the project in late January 2022. Construction of the solid waste landfill would cost 10 million EUR, including 7 million EUR was EBRD loan and 3 million EUR was a grant from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).
Regarding the project delay, BMG applied to the Solid Waste Company, explaining that in order to implement the donor-funded project, the company was obliged to meet the technical requirements of the EBRD for the construction of a new landfill. As the company explains, the initially selected area was found to be in breach of ICAO requirements related to the 13-kilometer buffer zone around Marneuli Airport.
“Early in 2018, the company was forced to find new, better locations to build the facility with the support of international experts. After numerous studies and consideration of alternative land plots, an area was selected in Tetritskaro Municipality and surveys of the area started.
Moreover, the pandemic had a fairly large impact on the progress of the work and complicated the work of experts during the course of the project.
Already in 2020, with the support of the company, the consultants completed the development of a scoping report, which was a prerequisite for environmental impact assessment in accordance with Georgian law. The report was submitted to the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia. In January 2021, the company received a scoping report from the Ministry, and as a result, we were able to develop an environmental impact assessment study and a detailed design of the facility.
However, Kvemo Kartli Waste Management Project is in an active phase of implementation after overcoming a number of difficulties. It is planned to submit an environmental impact assessment report to the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture in the near future and obtain other relevant permits. If the company will be able to select a qualified construction company, the estimated time to start construction of the facility is the second half of 2022, and the completion of work is expected in late 2023," - explained the company.
The tender for the project was announced by the EBRD itself. According to it, the new solid waste landfill will serve more than 200,000 customers in 5 municipalities of Kvemo Kartli (Tetritskaro, Marneuli, Tsalka, Bolnisi and Dmanisi). Proposal submission in the tender starts from February 28, 2022.
