Sewerage systems should have been in accordance with EU directives in 2010; one-fifth of inhabitants still do not have compatible systems
PRESS RELEASE on Audit No. 15/01 – October 12, 2015
The Supreme Audit Office (SAO) audited the Ministry of Agriculture and its management of water supply and waste water treatment and also scrutinized funds that were utilized in development and reconstruction projects in this area within the period from 2009 to 2015. At selected municipalities and water management companies, auditors scrutinized how the funds were utilized. Auditors scrutinized 22 projects worth CZK 1,200 million in total, with half of the sum drawn from the national budget. Owing to insufficient management, divided competences, and little communication among individual authorities the Czech Republic still lacks a fully functioning system that would ensure sustainable water supply and waste water treatment. As the obligations attached to EU directives related to waste water treatment have not been fulfilled, sanctions could be applied to the Czech Republic.
In the Czech Republic, there should have been a desirable level of sewerage systems in accordance with EU directives by the end of 2010. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, some CZK 75,000 million would have been needed to meet such a goal. The planned expenses were divided and one half was to be covered from the national budget, the rest from EU funds and by investors. In mid-2015, the EU requirements were not met in agglomerations with total population amounting to 1.7 million equivalent inhabitants1, most of them in Prague and surrounding municipalities. The Ministry estimated that the required costs in this area were around CZK 7–8,000 million, with most amounts needed for the continuing development of the central waste water treatment plant in Prague. Auditors concluded that the Czech Republic would not meet all the obligations until 2021, which would be 11 years after the deadline.
Poor state of the water and sewage infrastructure and its sustainability should have been tackled by programmes, under which the Ministry of Agriculture reassigned funds in the amount of CZK 13,500 million from the national budget. For example, the first finished programme aimed at reconstruction and development of 1.116 kilometres of water supply network and 662 kilometres of sewage pipelines. In case of several projects, direct decisions about the funding were made by Minister of Agriculture or his secretary in 2011 (and onwards). Their decisions ignored the programme rules that strictly determined conditions, under which a grant could be provided. For example, a state enterprise was supported in contradiction with the rule that said that allotted funds were not intended to aid state enterprises. In 11 cases, higher amounts were provided than the rules would permit.
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) revealed similar errors. During an audit of EU funds utilized in constructions of water treatment plants in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania the ECA pointed out that the sustainability of water and sewage infrastructures in these countries continued to be a major problem. In contrast to other audited countries, people in the Czech Republic are not obliged to connect with the existing water and sewage infrastructure. With projects audited by the SAO, the number of inhabitants connected to new local infrastructures varied from 56 % to 100 %. In case there are fewer households connected, the efficiency of the investment decreases.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office
1) „Equivalent inhabitant” = daily production 150 litres of waste water and 60 grams of materials biologically soluble in water.