Water Regulatory Entity proposes the introduction of tariff packages and price increase, the government nationalizes 43 water companies

The Water Regulatory Authority has proposed the introduction of charging packages. Thus, the Water Regulatory Authority proposes new packages requesting that the price be higher for each liter of water that exceeds the amount of 150 liters / inhabitant. This scheme is similar to what the government is aiming to restore for electricity, as the head of the Water Regulatory Authority (WRA), Ndriçim Shani says that according to estimates, a citizen consumes an average of 100 liters of water per day. However, it remains unclear how the liters per capita will be calculated, as water payments are made on a contract basis and not individually. Meanwhile, the new water charging methodology also envisages that for public and private customers, water supply and sewerage companies will apply 2 times higher prices, while for large polluters, 3 times more. The data were disclosed during the presentation of the new methodology for calculating water tariffs, approved at the end of last year by the Water Regulatory Authority. This methodology includes setting tariffs under the "ceiling price" method, a methodology which provides that water payments cover not only the company's revenue needs, to cover operating costs, but also to cover investment costs that performed by the water utility.

43 water companies are "merged"

Meanwhile, the government has proposed the creation of 15 water supply and sewerage companies, out of 58 companies that are currently. The figure is provided by the Water Regulatory Authority, which however specifies that this proposal has not yet been finalized. Reducing the number of water supply and sewerage companies means merging existing water supply companies into larger companies. Meanwhile, there is already a draft decision of the Council of Ministers that stipulates that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy will own 51 percent of the shares of Entities with Joint Competencies, which will be exactly the companies created by the aggregation of water supply. The document has been published before and defines the steps that will be followed for the reorganization of the water supply and drainage sector, wastewater treatment and treatment. Currently, the shares of water supply companies are 100% owned by the municipalities where they operate, while according to the proposal of the government, the local government units, which will enter into agreements for the reorganization of the companies they own, will no longer own more than 49 percent of the shares. Automatically, with the creation of these structures, we move towards the centralization of the sector, reducing the competencies of the municipalities. According to the report that accompanies the draft government decision, this reform is due to poor commercial performance combined with high levels of non-revenue water that reach 65.5 percent, while in terms of financial losses and debts of companies they are high. The shares of water supply companies are 100% owned by the municipalities where they operate, while according to the proposal of the government, the local government units, which will enter into agreements for the reorganization of the companies they own, will own no more than 49 percent of the shares. Automatically, with the creation of these structures, we move towards the centralization of the sector, reducing the competencies of the municipalities. According to the report that accompanies the draft government decision, this reform is due to poor commercial performance combined with high levels of non-revenue water that reach 65.5 percent, while in terms of financial losses and debts of companies they are high. The shares of water supply companies are 100% owned by the municipalities where they operate, while according to the proposal of the government, the local government units, which will enter into agreements for the reorganization of the companies they own, will own no more than 49 percent of the shares. Automatically, with the creation of these structures, we move towards the centralization of the sector, reducing the competencies of the municipalities. According to the report that accompanies the draft government decision, this reform is due to poor commercial performance combined with high levels of non-revenue water that reach 65.5 percent, while in terms of financial losses and debts of companies they are high. local government units, which will enter into agreements for the reorganization of companies owned by them, will own no more than 49 percent of the shares. Automatically, with the creation of these structures, we move towards the centralization of the sector, reducing the competencies of the municipalities. According to the report that accompanies the draft government decision, this reform is due to poor commercial performance combined with high levels of non-revenue water that reach 65.5 percent, while in terms of financial losses and debts of companies they are high. local government units, which will enter into agreements for the reorganization of companies owned by them, will own no more than 49 percent of the shares. Automatically, with the creation of these structures, we move towards the centralization of the sector, reducing the competencies of the municipalities. According to the report that accompanies the draft government decision, this reform is due to poor commercial performance combined with high levels of non-revenue water that reach 65.5 percent, while in terms of financial losses and debts of companies they are high. reducing the competencies of municipalities. According to the report that accompanies the draft government decision, this reform is due to poor commercial performance combined with high levels of non-revenue water that reach 65.5 percent, while in terms of financial losses and debts of companies they are high. reducing the competencies of municipalities. According to the report that accompanies the draft government decision, this reform is due to poor commercial performance combined with high levels of non-revenue water that reach 65.5 percent, while in terms of financial losses and debts of companies they are high.