By 15 October 2015, the national/regional benchmarking hubs for Albania & Kosovo, Bulgaria, Former Yugoslavia region and Ukraine have finished the second utility benchmarking cycle under the Danube Water Program. Via EBC’s benchmarking platform www.waterbenchmark.org the final company reports have been delivered to the 56 participating utilities.
With the delivery of the final reports, the First Phase of the Danube Water Program utility benchmarking project has come to an end. Because of the good experiences with the capacity building activities, the partners in the project - the involved national water utility associations, EBC Foundation and DWP – intend to continue the collaboration and are currently planning a Second Phase for the period 2016 – 2018.
Although the First Phase has ended and the new Phase will only start in 2016, the regional hubs for Bulgaria, Former Yugoslavia and Ukraine have taken the initiative to additionally organise – before the end of the year - workshops for participating utilities, in which they will discuss the assessment results of the second benchmarking cycle and encourage the exchange of experiences and good practices.