Statement by Agbar
In relation to this, Agbar has issued a statement affirming that Aigües de Barcelona will continue to provide water supply and sanitation services to Barcelona and the metropolitan area.
The Spanish Supreme Court has confirmed the legitimacy of the creation of the mixed public-private ownership company Aigües de Barcelona Empresa Metropolitana de Gestió del Cicle Integral de l’Aigua, comprised of SGAB, CriteriaCaixa and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area Authority (AMB), considering it is lawful and dismissing the appeals against its creation.
Agbar stated the following:
1. Aigües de Barcelona will continue to provide the drinking water services, as well as sewerage and treatment services, provided by the AMB when the public-private company was formed, ensuring the continuity, quality and excellence of services, as it has been doing up until now.
2. The Supreme court ratifies the position of AGBAR and the AMB in integrated water cycle management, accepting the agreements adopted in 2012 and 2013 by the metropolitan entity as fully legal, effective and lawful.
3. In this manner, Agbar sees its arguments defending the creation of the public-private company fully ratified, with the dismissal of the appeals against the creation of the public-private company Aigües de Barcelona.
4. The sentence confirms that AGBAR is the only company able to provide these services to the 3 million people in Barcelona and its metropolitan area. No other company holds title over the essential infrastructure and facilities to provide these services, built and financed by AGBAR.
5. The sentence ratifies the assets valuation of AGBAR (worth €476 M) done during the creation of the public-private company and endorsed at that point by experts appointed by the Commercial Registry.
6. The Supreme Court also rules that AGBAR holds a valid and full legal title to provide domestic water supply services and thus the economic valuation of the contribution made during the creation of the public-private company is correct.
7. Therefore, the court decision endorses Aigües de Barcelona as the manager of the integrated water cycle up to 2047, in the metropolitan area of Barcelona.
8. AGBAR celebrates that the court decision ensures the stability and unity, as well as the employment conditions, of the 1,154 people employed by the Aigües de Barcelona public-private company.
9. AGBAR trusts that this ruling will provide institutional stability and legal certainty to address, jointly with the public regulatory entity (AMB), the climate emergency that right now requires all our efforts to fight the effects of climate change, also in terms of water management and alternative water resources.