SHUKALB Organizes the 4th Workshop of the “Asset Management Advisory Services to Water Utilities in SEE” Project

On July 5^th 2021, SHUKALB and the Water and Wastewater Works Association of Kosovo (SHUKOS) organized online the 4^th workshop of the “Asset Management Advisory Services to Water Utilities in South East Europe” Project, organized for water companies in Albania and Kosova.

The workshop was jointly organized with the Deutsche Gesellchaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Hydro-Comp Enterprise HCE, Cyprus and the International Association of Water Utilities in the Danube River Catchment Area (IAWD).

The aim of the workshop was to present the status and progress of water utility companies during the 2^nd year of the project implementation, introduce the next phases and launch the Platinum Phase, which will be implemented this year for the first time in Albania and Kosova.

The workshop was attended by managers and staff of water companies in Albania and Kosovo, representatives from central government institutions as the Ministry of Economy in Kosova, Water Regulatory Authority in Albania and Kosova, representatives from local government, donors and IFIs, as well as other stakeholders from both countries.

The workshop started with the welcome speeches by Petrit Tare, President of SHUKALB; Sokol Xhafa, General Director, Regional Water Company of Prishtina; Leonat Muskollari, GIZ; Philip Weller, Head of Technical Secretariat, IAWD and Petros Kolovopoulos, Executive Manager, HCE.

The workshop was jointly moderated by Arbana Kola, Project Manager, Asset Management in Water Supply and Sewerage Utilities of Albania, SHUKALB and Erdonita Humolli, Assistant for Program and Projects / IAM HUB Administrator, SHUKOS.

During the workshop were presented the overall results of the project in Western Balkan and next activities for Gold and Platinum Stage (July 2021 – June 2022) in Kosovo and Albania by Georgi Hristov, Project Manager, GIZ ORF MMS, followed by presentations by the respective HUBs of the feedback on the status of participating water utilities, continuation of the project and the technical implementation in Albania and Kosovo.

Petros Kolovopoulos, Executive Manager, HCE, presented an overview on the second year of the project, upgraded Gold and Platinum Stages, activities and the way forward.

At the end, participants were engaged in an open discussion on their readiness to pass on the next phase, expectations for the third year of the project, and their satisfaction on what has been achieved so far.[:]