Ministry of Foreign Affairs director general Yoav Biran today signed an agreement with his Turkish counterpart, Ugur Ziyal, to import from Turkey 50 million cubic meters of water a year over 20 years. The agreement was signed as part of the bilateral dialogue to settle regional issues.
Under the agreement, Israel will pay $0.24 per cubic meter for one billion cubic meters of water, not including transport, which means that the final cost is unknown.
The Ministry of Finance says that studies indicate that the cost of transporting the water will be very high, since port fees alone could raise the price by $0.20-0.30 per cubic meter. The cost of water also does not include the cost of building a receiving facility for the water tankers, due to be built at the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Co. terminal in Ashkelon.
Under the terms of the desalination facilities tenders, desalinated water will cost $0.53 per cubic meter. One 100 million cubic meter a year facility in currently under construction in Ashkelon. The Ministry of Finance is scheduled to publish within two months a tender for another 100 million cubic meter a year facility.
Ministry of Finance sources say Israel is paying too much for the Turkish water and that there are cheaper alternatives.
The National Planning and Building Board this week approved the plan to desalinate 750 million cubic meters of water in the coming years, which will render water imports solely a political matter.
Water economy sources say the fact that the agreement was signed by Israel and Turkey's foreign ministries indicates that it was a political decision, not an operative economic one. They claim that an economic agreement would have been signed by the two countries' finance and infrastructures ministers.
Minister of National Infrastructures Joseph Paritzky said in response that the cabinet had decided to import water from Turkey, and he hoped that the agreement would strengthen bilateral relations. The Water Commission stated in response that it complied with all cabinet decisions.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on March 4, 2004