EBRD Annual Meeting 2019

Empowering communities to be heard. Protecting whistleblowers and pushing back against the threat of violence, intimidation and attacks on free speech and assembly. Preserving the environment.

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Transition

A phase out from fossil fuels is inevitable in all countries where the EBRD operates, and the bank should be listen, support, and then follow through with investments to realise this vision.

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Nenskra,
Georgia

Given the complexity of the Nenskra project and its immense impact on indigenous Svan communities and the country’s fiscal stability, the EBRD should take responsibility and not provide financial support until the project is properly assessed.

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EPS/Kostolac,
Serbia

“Restructuring” EPS is more about perpetuating non-compliance, building new coal units and expanding lignite mines. Read Bankwatch’s request to the EBRD concerning the outcomes of the EPS compliance review.

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Krapska Reka,
N. Macedonia

The case shows the importance of consulting all stakeholders before a loan contract is signed – even for Category B projects, as they may have equally destructive impacts on the environment, biodiversity and local communities.

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Hydropower,
the Balkans

The cautious approach to hydropower in the Balkans should be applied to other regions that also struggle to implement the EBRD and EU standards. The EBRD should protect the pristine ecological status of rivers and the rights of communities.

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Kheledula,
Georgia

Failing to acknowledge the Lower Svaneti Lalkhor, the violations to Georgian legislation and the bank’s own policies will deteriorate the livelihoods of the indigenous Svans and the potential for alternative development and tourism in the villages.

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Namakhvani,
Georgia

The EBRD should ensure the close examination of the project and its documents before it officially enters into pipeline, as it is likely to have a considerable effect on local communities and biodiversity.

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LATEST UPDATES

In Georgia, leaked contract shows Nenskra hydropower project to cost country USD 60 million a year

Press release | 10 June, 2019

For immediate release. Prague, Tbilisi – A leaked contract between the Georgian government and the company behind the Nenskra hydropower project includes terms that indicate the project will incur massive losses for the state, according to a report broadcast on 8 June by the national television station Rustavi 2 [1].

Bulgarian villagers call on the EBRD to ensure fair resettlement by coal company it finances

Press release | 29 May, 2019

Beli Bryag, Bulgaria – Around one hundred villagers in the village of Beli Bryag, in Bulgaria’s Stara Zagora region, are anxiously awaiting for a resolution to their claims of proper resettlement by the Maritsa East mines, the company gearing up to expand its lignite mine to where the village currently stands. They have only until the end of the year before they are expropriated. [1]

EBRD tightens standards in response to Balkan hydropower boom

Blog entry | 16 May, 2019

As a result of public resistance to small-scale hydropower projects in the Balkans, from the beginning of 2020, the EBRD will ask commercial banks to refer all high-risk projects – including all hydropower plants – for additional checks. The EBRD also requires them to meet higher environmental standards than previously. The bank will ask that such projects are disclosed to the public on the financial intermediary’s website, finally increasing disclosure on these hitherto hidden projects.