The Lithuanian Ministry of Environment called on the OECD in 2020 to facilitate a national policy dialogue focused on consolidation of utilities as a condition to set water supply and sanitation services on a sustainable path. The OECD is grateful to have had the opportunity to support an ambitious reform agenda.
The report captures the main analyses and policy discussions, which informed the policy dialogue on water in Lithuania. The analyses were initially clustered in several project outputs, compiled here as chapters of the report. Some analyses and policy discussions are likely to be relevant for countries considering options to enhance the performance and financial sustainability of water supply and sanitation services.
The active and constant support of the Ministry is acknowledged. Special thanks go to Irmantas Valūnas, Monika Sakalauskaitė and Agnė Kniezaitė-Gofmanė for the time and expertise allocated to this project. The Ministry was particularly successful in engaging with a range of stakeholders, through co-presence or virtual meetings. The OECD Secretariat convened meetings with regional stakeholders, in Kaunas and Marijampole; the active participation of local authorities and utilities of these regions was a most valuable addition to test the practicalities of consolidation scenarios and accompanying measures.
The project was undertaken in collaboration with – and with the financial support of – the European Commission DG Reform. This collaboration has been particularly fruitful, with special thanks to Mauro Sibilia for his support throughout the process.
The project was undertaken by the OECD Environment Directorate (Tatiana Efimova), with substantial contributions from the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities: Oriana Romano shared her in-depth understanding of the governance of water utilities and Maria Salvetti contributed her extensive knowledge of aggregation processes in Europe and beyond. Tim Keyworth (Keyworth Consulting) plaid a pivotal role, in particular in relation to tariff policy, economic regulation and benchmarking the performance of water utilities; the OECD Secretariat benefitted from insightful discussions on these and related issues. Pierre Strosser, Gloria Depaoli and Youssef Zaiter (Acteon Environment) facilitated engagement with regional authorities and provided useful feedback in later stages of the project. Aukse Kaziulioniene (PV Grupe) was instrumental in collecting and analysing disaggregated data at regional level and in facilitating regional consultations. Xavier Leflaive, the OECD Environment Water Team Leader, co-ordinated the process and contributed his vision on consolidation options and sustainable water services. Ines Reale provided impeccable support to the project. The work was conducted under the overall supervision of Walid Oueslati, Acting Head of the Environment, Transitions and Resilience Division of the OECD’s Environment Directorate. The Lithuanian Ministry of Environment called on the OECD in 2020 to facilitate a national policy dialogue focused on consolidation of utilities as a condition to set water supply and sanitation services on a sustainable path. The OECD is grateful to have had the opportunity to support an ambitious reform agenda.