May 5, 2018 - The Danube Water Conference was held in Vienna on the 2nd and 3rd of May. The Montenegrin Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, led by Sasa Radulovic, also took part in this program. The conference is annually organized by the International Association of Water Supply Companies in the Danube River Catchment Area, the World Bank and the Austrian Government. This year’s topic was “Achieving sustainable water and sanitation for all: progress, challenges and future actions in the Danube Region”.
During the session of smart policies for managing water, Montenegrin State Secretary Radulovic gave his thoughts on “Optimizing National Management of the Water Sector”. He especially noted the progress of Montenegro regarding reforms for European Union integrations. He mentioned chapter 27, which plays the crucial role in this situation, and he, as well, stated the main challenges while managing wastewater. He also said that for Montenegro, water is an essential natural and strategical resource, so that in Montenegro, people have to treat water carefully and with devotion.
Radulovic noted: “The assumptions on which we will base the forthcoming water sector reform in Montenegro are based on three basic principles: Water supplies and water sources should be owned by the community, so that democratic governance can be satisfied and social needs can be met. We plan to achieve this by improving the existing public infrastructure for water supply and by promoting transparent reporting on the work of water management companies with the supervision of local communities and central authorities, which should result in over improvement of the service. We will enable the public to public partnerships on a non-profit basis with participatory management of water managing companies. At the same time, we will have direct investments, management and the distribution of water in such a direction that it satisfies the needs of the population, and not just to gain profit. We intend to regulate water as both a public and social good and to promote water as the right of every citizen of Montenegro. We also intend to implement a wide range of educational programs in order to reduce water consumption.”
Also, State Secretary Radulovic participated in a panel discussion with representatives of the countries of the region to exchange experiences in this area. At this conference, numerous meetings were held with representatives of regional and international organizations, including a meeting with Ms. Patricia Lopez, leader of the Danube Water Program in front of the World Bank. She discussed the topic of cooperation between the World Bank and Montenegro in the framework of the future water sector reform.
The conference gathered representatives from more than 15 countries, including representatives of the Regional Water Supply Network of the Montenegrin Coast, which is a member of the International Water Supply Companies Association in the Danube River Basin. The goal of this conference was to discuss the progress achieved, as well as the challenges or future activities to develop smart policies and utility companies that will enable access to water and sanitary services for all citizens of the Danube basin. The conference housed around 200 people.
