The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund (EPTATF) Grant Agreement of over €3 million with the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia and the utility company the United Water Supply Company of Georgia. These funds, are used to finance specialised professional services to support the utility company in its implementation of the EIB Kutaisi Waste Water project.

Under a finance contract of 2015, the EIB made a loan of up to €100 million available to the Georgian Ministry of Regional Development, which will improve the collection and treatment of wastewater in the city of Kutaisi. The EU is providing an additional € 4.95 million grant to the project. The project is part of Georgia’s Water Sector Rehabilitation programme, which consists of a series of investments that aim at improving the water supply in Kutaisi, Ureki, Poti and Zugdidi and wastewater collection and treatment in Kutaisi, Ureki and Poti (Kutaisi Waste Water project)'

The following are the specific objectives of the Project, namely to support:

a) The achievement of Georgia's long-term target set by the Government for the water
supply and sanitation sectors (i.e. to provide all citizens with good quality potable water
with 24/7 supply continuity and to collect and treat produced wastewaters, which is in
line with the Georgian environmental legislation as well as the EU Directive on Urban
Wastewater Treatment);
b) The achievement of Georgia's environmental targets (including enhanced protection of
the Black Sea ecosystem by means of inter alia the higher level of sanitation resulting
from the elimination of discharges of untreated waste water into the surface waters and
ground waters);
c) The improvement of the standard of living and the reduction of public health risks in the
targeted municipalities;
d) The enhancement in the application of local phytosanitary standards;
e) The rehabilitation and upgrade of outdated basic infrastructure across the country in
general which may in turn contribute to the development of the SMEs and private sector;
f) Climate change mitigation via greenhouse emissions reduction, by treating wastewater
flows to appropriate standards and contributing to achieving environmentally sustainable
sludge disposal.

- Technical review conducted
- Implementation Support and Engineering Services for the Project Implementation Unit
- Advisory Services to the Government of Georgia on the Preparation and Implementation of a Public-Private Partnership for Smaller Municipality Water Utilities
- Additional water supply, wastewater treatment and storm water investments in the Avtoqarkhana district of Kutaisi City containing almost 40,000 residents, or 35% of the total population.

Length of new or rehabilitated water supply pipes: 439.4 km
Length of new or rehabilitated sewer pipes installed: 537.4 km
New connections to water supply: 43 336
Wastewater treatment capacity: 66 511 m3/d
Population benefiting from safe drinking water: 58 144 households
Population benefiting from improved sanitation services: 101 331 households
Wastewater treated: 336 100 population equivalent
New or rehabilitated pumping stations - water: 4
Water reservoirs new or rehabilitated: 26 700 m3
New or rehabilitated pumping stations - wastewater: 89
Total number of beneficiaries: 380 206 estimated number of people with improved access to services
Direct employment: Construction phase: 3 285 FTE
Direct employment; Operations and maintenance: 318 FTE.