In the coming years, Serbia would have to invest 20 billion euros in wastewater treatment plants alone, they say in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. These days, Israeli experts and investors are visiting them, in order to invest money in that area.
Israel is one of the first countries in the world to have factories for desalination of sea water. It is processed in this way for drinking and in agriculture.
“More than a billion people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water and that number will grow due to climate change. The issue of water for Israel is not environmental. It is also part of the Middle East peace agreement, because we had wars over water until recently,” says Israeli Ambassador to Serbia Jahel Vilan.
That is why the Israelis do not waste water, have the lowest losses on the network, and at the same time purify 90% of wastewater. Incomparably more than Serbia.
The director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Filip Radovic, points out that the latest statistical analysis that the Agency is doing from year to year shows that this number has reached a historical 14.42 percent.
“That is still far from what we imagined, and that is that they certainly exceed 50 percent or 60 percent,” Radovic emphasizes.
The report on the level of pollution and wastewater treatment is submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency by 356 companies. One third is supervised by the European Agency. Many are investing more and more in purifiers, often under public pressure.
“I expect a large inflow of support funds that will come from international financial institutions from the EU through pre-accession funds and of course from everything planned for the green agenda for the Western Balkans. I believe that when we talk about it, we want to gather knowledge and support the region in that process,” says the director of the Sector for Strategic Analysis, Services and Internationalization in PKS, Mihailo Vesovic.
That we do not have room for waste and carelessness is also shown by the fact that Serbia is not rich in water resources. We have 1,500 cubic meters per capita, and the inhabitants of the European Union about 2,500 cubic meters, RTS reports.
