Wednesday, November 30 2016 13:43

ArmInfo. On November 30, the  Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) approved the order of  provision of services and a model form of the contract in the  relevant field.  

The PSRC press office has told ArmInfo that the PSRC has discussed  issues regarding establishment of rules of services provision in the  drinking water supply area and establishment of a model form of the  contract between the operator and the subscribers.   

Following discussions with the parties concerned, the PSRC took a  positive decision on the projects. The decision will come into effect  on 1 Jan 2017. 

Earlier Veolia Djur (France), which officially became the single  drinking water supply operator in Armenia on November 21, announced  its intention to apply to PSRC to approve a single tariff.  

Previously ArmInfo reported, citing its sources in PSRC, that  starting from 1 Jan 2017, the single water tariff in Armenia will be  fixed at 180 AMD per 1 cu m, including VAT. The new operator of water  supply - the sole operator throughout the republic with a single  tariff - will launch activities on January 1, 2017. The new single  water operator will take management of the current five operators:  "Yerevan Djur", "Armwatercanal", "Shirak Water Canal", "Lori Water  Canal" and "Nor Akunq". The relevant lease agreement specifies the  basic tariffs for 15 years. The basic tariff for the 1st year will be  set based on the costs of retail supplies in water system and  disposal of sewage. Starting from the 2nd year the tariff will be  adjusted with due regard for a number of factors: change of  electricity tariff and amount of retail supplies, as well as  inflation. The tariffs will be revised no more often than once a  year. Within 15 years, Veolia Environment SA, which has been chosen  following the international tender, is to pay a lease fee of nearly  89 bln AMD (about $190 mln) to the government. Within the next 15  years, the new operator will invest 37.5 bln AMD (about $80 mln) in  modernization of water supply and sewerage networks. The State Water  Committee has told ArmInfo that the investments will be mostly spent  on the repair of water supply network in the remote settlements. So  far the five operators in Armenia have served 410-420 settlements -  large cities and rural communities. Nearly 570 communities were  outside the "coverage" of the companies.  According to the State  Committee, today one of the key tasks is to include those communities  in the "coverage area" of the single water supply operator.