Vol 2, Issue 1 (January 2001)

Analysis

  • A word from the Editor…

    A happy New Year to all our readers. We start 2001 with a report on US legislative and regulatory prospects under the new Bush administration.

General

  • Aquamundo to supply water in Montenegro

    AQUAMUNDO has won a contract to provide water and wastewater services to more than 400,000 people in seven towns located between Herceg Novi and Ulcinj along the Adriatic coast of Montenegro.

  • Brazil extends sources of finance for basic sanitation

    THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT is to allow private, state and municipally owned water companies to issue bonds on the financial markets for specific projects.

  • Brazilian government plans legislation to beat titularity

    THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT is preparing to submit a bill to congress in February designed to overcome the main obstacle to privatisation in the water industry – the question of who has the right to control service concessions.

  • Kuwait plans major new water supply system

    KUWAIT is to start work this year on a major project to assure water supplies to the Subiya, Mutla and West Funaitees areas.

  • Mekorot shake-up delayed

    THE PLANNED RESTRUCTURING OF MEKOROT, which would allow the company to enter joint venture agreements with private partners, is proceeding slowly and causing considerable frustration among the company’s senior management.

  • Oman shows flair for PSP

    The recent award of two major power generation and desalination projects at Barka and Al Kamil in the Sultanate of Oman are the latest evidence of a move towards private sector participation (PSP) in utility service provision. Other awards are planned and the signs are that a move to PSP will soon be extended into water and wastewater services.

  • Rhone-Barcelona transfer project latest

    THE PROJECT TO BUILD an aqueduct to carry 350-400Mm<sup>3/year of water from the Rhone to Barcelona’s 4.5 million population is taking shape.

  • Sabesp to seek private partner

    SÃO PAULO state governor Mario Covas is said to be considering the sale of 38% of the state’s 88% ordinary shareholding in Sabesp to a private sector partner.

  • São Francisco finance proposal

    A BRAZILIAN CONGRESSMAN has proposed in his report to the Special Congressional Commission for the São Francisco water transfer project that part of the finance for the plan should come from the profits of Chesf (Companhia Hidraeletrica do São Francisco).

  • Second Israeli desal plant approved

    ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD BARAK has given the go-ahead for a second seawater desalination plant producing 50Mm<sup>3</sup> of fresh water per year. The plant will be built at Ashdod, 20km north of Ashkelon where a plant, also with an output of 50Mm<sup>3</sup>/year, is due to be built by a private consortium.

  • Thames takes up majority stake in Essbio

    THAMES WATER has completed its purchase of Chilean water utility Essbio, paying $336 million for a majority 50.9% stake. Thames made a winning bid of $282.3 million for a 42% shareholding in Essbio in September 2000, beating a rival offer from Vivendi (see GWI, Vol. 1, Issue 5, p.4).

  • USA: prospects under Bush

    It is still too early to know exactly what effect the new administration of President George W. Bush will have on the US water industry, but a clear picture is beginning to emerge.

  • Water trading a step closer in California

    THE BOARD of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) has granted final approval of a new, two-tiered rate structure and regulatory regime which will lay the foundation for a more open, market-based water supply system.

Brief

  • AdP to buy control of Prolagos

    IPE-AGUAS DE PORTUGAL (AdP) is to take a controlling interest in Prolagos, the basic sanitation service concessionaire for the Lake District (Regiao dos Lagos) in the north east of Rio de Janeiro state.

  • Barra and Jacarepagua winners expected soon

    THE WINNERS of Brazil’s Barra de Tijuca outfall and Jacarepagua basic sanitation tenders should be known by the middle of this month according to Alberto Gomes, president of Cedae, Rio de Janeiro’s state water company.

  • IADB lends Brazil over $200 million

    THE INTERAMERICAN DEVEOPMENT BANK (IADB) has granted Brazil a US$212.5 million credit line for basic sanitation works.

  • Spain’s Inima seeks three more Brazilian concessions

    SPAIN’S INIMA is seeking to gain three more, as yet unnamed, city water service concessions in São Paulo state.

Market insight

  • The alternative to project finance

    The project finance approach to funding water development has major drawbacks and will not mobilise enough private capital to improve services in the developing world. An alternative model, which involves the restructuring of institutions and a change in ownership, holds out the chance of much greater success, writes Keith Palmer of NM Rothschild & Sons.

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