RusHydro, Russia's largest hydropower company, wants to take over management of the country's water and wastewater services, Kommersant reported Thursday.
Final proposals could be submitted to President Vladimir Putin by Feb. 10.
Kommersant reported Thursday that the plan calls for setup of a holding company called Voda Rossii.
RusHydro would hold a controlling interest in the company, and the remaining shares would be held by a federal agency.
At the regional and municipal levels, Voda Rossii would establish operators that would be co-owned by local authorities. The paper, citing officials at RusHydro, said waterworks and their assets, which are now primarily owned by local authorities, would not be transferred to the holding company.
Voda Rossii's job would be to ensure that technical and investment policy is unified, assets are optimized and plans for water supply and wastewater management are developed.
It would also create a unified service for regions' water and wastewater utilities, support emergency services, get involved in lawmaking and take other steps aimed at modernizing and consolidating the sector at the regional level.
The paper cited the executive director of the Russian Association of Water Supply and Disposal, Yelena Dovlatova, as saying that the water and wastewater sector needs between 3 trillion rubles ($100 million) and 15 trillion rubles in investment.
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