As Driving Forces Behind New Treatment Plan, St. Petersburg’s Water Authority and its Director Win the 2005 Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award

Stockholm, June 20, 2005 – Untreated wastewater from St. Petersburg is the Baltic Sea’s single biggest pollution point source, though this “hot spot” is about to get much better thanks to the work of Vodokanal St. Petersburg and its General Director, Felix Karmazinov – the winner of the 2005 Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award, announced today.

Cleaner Wastewater – Better Baltic

Vodokanal, which is the municipal water utility for St. Petersburg, and Mr. Karmazinov have been the driving forces behind completion of the Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant (SWTP), which will be inagurated in September 2005. Once it does, 1.5 million citizens of the city will no longer on a daily basis send 700,000 cubic metres of untreated wastewater – enough to fill 700 Olympic-size swimming pools – straight into the Neva River and from there, the Gulf of Finland and thus the Baltic Sea.

Among the many benefits will be the eventual easing of problems caused by the excessive growth of algae, which reduce dissolved oxygen in the water and thus can kill other marine life.

To complete the SWTP – construction of which ground to a halt in the late 1980s – Mr. Karmazinov and his colleagues at Vodokanal worked diligently in recent years to get the project finished and under circumstances where many other issues have had a higher profile on the local agenda.

In its citation, the Nominating Committee said Mr. Karmazinov and Vodokanal “have fostered an understanding that the city’s wastewater must be cleaned” and that they are “role models in the international efforts to achieve a cleaner Baltic Sea through sound wastewater treatment solutions.”

International Collaboration

Also cited were their efforts to stimulate an impressive collaboration of international and Russian actors to get the EUR 130 million needed to complete the project. SWTP is being constructed in accordance with a Public-Private-Partnership model, with the municipality of St. Petersburg and the private companies working together in operating the plant.

“The completion of the treatment plant will not solve the whole problem of eutrophication in the Baltic Sea, but it will be important toward improving its water quality,” said Award Committee Chair Ulla-Britta Fallenius of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Eutrophication, which is the overload of nutrients in aquatic systems, is one of the most serious environmental threats facing the Baltic Sea.

The award will be presented August 26 during the annual World Water Week in Stockholm (www.worldwaterweek.org).

About the Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award
The Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award is a regional award for water stewardship and recognises direct and practical efforts which contribute to improved water quality in the Baltic Sea. Given by Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the award is seen as an appreciation for what individuals, corporations, non-governmental organisations and municipalities have done to help improve the Baltic Sea’s water environment.

The Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award was established in 1999 and is presented during the World Water Week in Stockholm each August. The award winner receives a SEK 100,000 prize sum, crystal sculpture, diploma and travel and accommodation to participate in the activities during the World Water Week. A jury appointed by the Swedish Government reviews the nominations and selects the winner, which can come from any of the Baltic Sea countries.

Previous recipients include the Nature Management and Water Environment Division of Fyn County, Denmark; Frantschach Swiecie SA, Poland; The Lithuanian Housing and Urban Development Foundation; Mr. Leonid Korovin from St. Petersburg, Russia; The City of Gdansk, Poland; and PURAC of Poland.

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