At the end of the March, the head of the Project Management Department from the Regional Development Agency South, Mr Andrei Popusoi, and the GIZ regional advisors, Mr Andrei Tocaru and Mr Sergiu Plesca, together with a group of specialists from the regions of the Republic of Moldova, took part at a study visit in the field of water supply and sanitation service management, held in several localities from the South-Eastern Poland.

The visit started at Boguchwała town, with a workshop, where Polish policy in the field of water supply and sanitation have been discussed. To the Moldovan specialists were presented the Regulations in terms of compliance with the requirements of European directives regarding the evolution of water tariffs and maintenance of tariffs below the payment capacity of the community.

At Przemyśl, the members of the delegation, have also visited the "Waters of Poland" Agency - the main unit responsible for the water management at national level, as well as the local water treatment plant, institutions for environmental protection, water treatment plants, etc. In Zagórz and Solina, rural localities - tourist destinations, members of the delegation from our country got acquainted with the organization of water supply and sewerage management in small communities.

At the end of the study visit, the members of the Moldovan delegation visited the water treatment station and sewage treatment plant from the Sanok town.

Referring to the study visit in Poland, to country's advanced water and sanitation practices, the head of Project Management Department from the Regional Development Agency (RDA) South, Mr Andrei Popusoi, takes the view that Poland's water supply and sewerage experience is one that deserves to be applied in the Republic of Moldova.

"The RDA South has already successfully implemented a large-scale water supply project, such as Leova-Iargara. Also, taking into account that the institution is currently implementing projects related to the improvement of the water and sewerage infrastructure in several localities from Leova and Cahul districts, funded by European Union sources through GIZ, Poland's experience in this field is a very useful one. Good practices from this country and European standards, will be taken over by us.

Our activities are focused towards connecting the most of the localities to safe, sustainable sources of surface water supply, regionalising these types of public services", noted Mr Andrei Popusoi.

According to the participants, the subjects of the study visit were related to the Polish policies in the field of water and sanitation, the regulation on the tariffs in compliance with the requirements of the European directives, the institutional framework for the water supply service, the relations with the public administration, as well as the water supply activities degree of autonomy.

Also, the Moldovan specialists took note of the implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, technical standards and regulations for water supply and sewerage systems in rural and urban areas, water treatment technologies, wastewater treatment and sanitation in rural areas, the management of small water and sanitation systems, including alternative systems for different communities.