Water Partnership. Romania: Apa-Canal S.A. Galati, 2c-tin Brancoveanu Street, Romania. Represented by Mr Gelu Stan, Managing Director;

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1 Water Partnership Parties Romania: Apa-Canal S.A. Galati, 2c-tin Brancoveanu Street, Romania. Represented by Mr Gelu Stan, Managing Director; The Netherlands: Waterbedrijf Groningen, Griffeweg 99, Groningen. Represented by Mr H.H. Hoogeveen, Managing Director; Regional Water Authority Waterschap Hunze en Aa s, Aquapark 5, Veendam. Represented by board member and acting dike reeve Mr J. Bartelds, responsible for international affairs. Considering that: Apa-Canal S.A. Galati has regional responsibility for the delivery of safe drinking water and the collection, transportation and purification of waste water; Since the end of 2010, Apa-Canal S.A. Galati has been responsible for the water supply and the waste water disposal in the entire county of Galati and this way it is managing regional water companies in the county; Because of national, regional and local ambitions, Apa-Canal S.A. Galati faces the challenge to improve the existing installations for the production and delivery of drinking water and for the collection, transportation and purification of waste water for the purpose of supplying as many inhabitants in the county of Galati as possible with safe and sustainable drinking water and waste water systems; For the realisation of these ambitions, Apa-Canal S.A. Galati is interested in a Water Partnership in which knowledge and experience with respect to drinking water and waste water services is acquired and shared. This partnership can relate to technical, administrative and management and governance affairs; Waterbedrijf Groningen has extensive knowledge and experience with regard to drinking water supply and the merging of public utilities, since Waterbedrijf Groningen originates from former municipal drinking water companies in the province of Groningen; Regional Water Authority Waterschap Hunze en Aa s has knowledge and experience with respect to, inter alia, waste water treatment and governance issues, and is responsible for flood risk management, sufficient and clean water; Waterbedrijf Groningen and Regional Water Authority Waterschap Hunze en Aa s both have knowledge and experience with respect to sewerage services and waste water storage; The Dutch parties are experienced in the development of defrayment structures and innovative governance approaches regarding the fields of expertise mentioned above; The Dutch parties wish to share their knowledge and experience with the Romanian partners, this way contributing to reliable, sustainable and efficient drinking water and waste water services for the residents in the county of Galati; The Dutch parties wish to enable their staff members to gain experience abroad, this way enlarging and intensifying their knowledge and expertise. The three parties wish to enter into a Water Partnership.

2 1. Scope 1. The scope of the cooperation is the exchange of knowledge and experience regarding drinking water supply, sewerage services and waste water treatment and the several governance issues that play a part in these fields of activity; 2. To this end, the Dutch partners will create learning opportunities for visiting staff members of Apa- Canal S.A. Galati in the Netherlands to enable them to gain experience in the fields of expertise previously mentioned; 3. The learning opportunities will focus on the areas of technology, administration and management and governance; 4. The Dutch partners will enable their staff members to support the employees of Apa-Canal S.A. Galati in their work and in their development. This way, a partnership will be created between the staff members of the participating organisations; 5. The Dutch partners will enable their staff members to give a second opinion on advisory reports by a third party within the framework of the masterplan for Apa-Canal S.A. Galati; 6. The Dutch partners will enable their staff members to give advice with respect to technical, administrative or management problems. 2. Responsibilities 1. The Netherlands and Romania both appoint one coordinator who will be primary responsible for the course and the overall progression of the Water Partnership. 2. Each of the three parties appoint one main contact person for all matters concerning the Water Partnership. In the case of the Netherlands, one of these main contact persons will also occupy the position of coordinator (as meant in subsection 1, paragraph responsibilities ). 3. For each subproject on the shortlist for the coming year (see subsection 4, paragraph duration agreement and reporting obligations ), one expert will be appointed who will be responsible for the successful completion of the subproject. The expert will keep in close contact with the national coordinator and will keep the coordinator informed on the progression of the subproject. 3. Liability 1. All staff members posted abroad have arranged for casualty insurance as well as travel insurance. 4. Exchange 1. Preliminary to the exchange of staff members for practical placements in the Netherlands and Romania, the goals of the exchange will be specified in an exchange document. 2. After the exchange, an evaluation will take place, where there will be special attention for the goals achieved. 3. The duration of the practical placements will be 3 weeks at most. During this period, the amount of time spent at both Dutch organisations will be equal; 4. During the exchange, a staff member will be linked to an employee of the host company. This employee will support the exchange and will concentrate on the realisation of the objectives established in the exchange document. There will also be room for social and cultural interchange during the employee s stay in the host country.

3 5. Working language 1. The spoken and written working language will be English. 2. The participating staff members will need to have such knowledge of the English language that the cooperation can be realised in an effective way. 3. May it be that an employee experiences difficulties with the use of the English language, then (s)he will be responsible for the arrangement of interpretation services. 4. When there is a need to translate documents to the Romanian language, then this will be the responsibility of Apa-Canal S.A. Galati. 6. Costs 1. Costs for international transport: the sending company will account for the costs of the plane tickets. 2. Costs for national transport: transport costs in Romania will be covered by Apa-Canal S.A. Galati and transport costs in The Netherlands will be covered by the Dutch partners. 3. Accommodation expenses in The Netherlands and in Romania will both be covered by the Dutch partners. 4. All parties will pay for the Daily Subsistence Allowance for their own employees according to company policies. 5. Costs will not exceed the available annual budgets of the parties of this partnership. 7. Funding 1. Each partner in this agreement will undertake action to explore possibilities for funding of the costs of this Water Partnership by third parties. 8. Duration agreement and reporting obligations 1. This agreement has a duration of three years and will enter into force on If any party wishes to withdraw from this agreement sooner than. 2014, it can do so by notifying the other partners at least three months in advance. The withdrawing party will be responsible for a proper closing of unfinished activities at that time. 3. For the three-year duration of the agreement, the partners will develop a working plan including a cost estimation on the main topics of the cooperation. 4. For every single year of the cooperation, a shortlist containing the exact subprojects for that year including the practical arrangements will be elaborated (see annex 1 for the format of the shortlist). Before the end of the current cooperation year, the shortlist for the next twelve months will be finished. 5. Each party commits itself to evaluate the progression and the results achieved at the end of every cooperation year and to report the findings to its management.

4 ANNEX 1: Format for subprojects on the shortlist of the Water Partnership TITLE Name subproject a) Subject What is the subproject about? b) Goal What is the intended goal of the subproject? c) Results What are the intended results? What product(s) or service(s) will be realised? d) Activities What actions will be taken to achieve the results (e.g. exchange of information via telephone or , knowledge exchange via practical placements, learning by means of study visits, etc.)? e) Responsible persons Which persons are involved in the subproject and what are their individual responsibilities? f) Duration What will be the start date and the final date of the subproject? g) Costs What is the cost estimation for the subproject? What should be the maximum amount spent? h) Information What is agreed on the supply of information on the progression of the subproject towards the coordinators? NAME EXPERT SIGNATURE EXPERT

5 Water Partnership: samenvatting Waterbedrijf Groningen, Waterschap Hunze en Aa s en Apa-Canal Galati gaan voor een periode van drie jaar een partnerschap met elkaar aan op het gebied van drinkwatervoorziening, riolering, afvalwaterzuivering en de vele aspecten van governance die hierbij komen kijken. Kennisuitwisseling is het sleutelwoord van het partnerschap; de Nederlandse partners stellen hiertoe trainingsplaatsen (duur: maximaal drie weken) beschikbaar voor medewerkers van Apa-Canal Galati, waarbij de focus ligt op de thema s techniek, administratie, management en governance. De bedoeling is dat medewerkers van de Nederlandse organisaties de Roemeense collega s ondersteunen in hun werk en hun ontwikkeling en dat het partnerschap op die manier op medewerkersniveau tot stand komt. Naast de trainingsplaatsen is er binnen het partnerschap ruimte voor de Roemeense medewerkers om bij de Nederlandse collega s advies in te winnen bij vraagstukken op het gebied van techniek, administratie, management en governance en om een second opinion te vragen op door derden uitgebrachte adviezen. De bijzondere expertise die Waterbedrijf Groningen in de samenwerking inbrengt, betreft kennis op het gebied van drinkwatervoorziening en het fuseren van nutsbedrijven. Waterschap Hunze en Aa s levert een waardevolle bijdrage in de samenwerking door zijn kennis over onder meer afvalwaterzuivering en zijn ruime ervaring met governancevraagstukken. Tot slot hebben beide organisaties ervaring met het opzetten van bekostigingsstructuren voor de voorzieningen die zij leveren. Apa-Canal Galati heeft eind 2010 de verantwoordelijkheid gekregen voor de gehele provincie Galati en daartoe enkele regionale bedrijven in haar organisatie opgenomen. Het bedrijf staat nu voor de grote uitdaging om de bestaande installaties voor het produceren en leveren van drinkwater en het inzamelen, transporteren en zuiveren van afvalwater te verbeteren en uit te breiden. Het uiteindelijke doel van alle partners binnen het Water Partnership is dan ook om zoveel mogelijk inwoners van de provincie Galati te voorzien van een betrouwbaar, veilig en duurzaam drinkwater- en afvalwatersysteem.