Juncker’s €300bn investment gamble – and what it might mean for energy
Energy Post | December 9, 2014The EU and European Investment Bank (EIB) have teamed up to launch a new investment programme for Europe – with energy, as well as transport, research, innovation and education, its key objects. A modest €21bn in public money is set to be multiplied up to a whopping €315bn in total investments over the next three years, pushing Europe toward that long-hoped for economic recovery. There is no dedicated share of the money for individual sectors or countries, yet first reactions from the energy community are enthusiastic.
Juncker’s €315bn investment plan unveiled: fifteenfold leverage and solidarity for the south
EurActiv | December 9, 2014The European Commission yesterday (25 November) unveiled the mechanism for its much-heralded €315 billion investment plan, revealing how a limited €21 billion of initial public money is intended to lift fifteen times as much in capital.
Romania ‘Broke Environmental Rules’ in Coal Expansion
Balkan Insight | December 8, 2014The European Commission has opened an infringement case against Bucharest over deforestation caused by an expansion at a major mining complex.
EBRD’s Environmental Policy Under Scrutiny in Kyrgyzstan
The Diplomat | November 17, 2014Central Asia’s top producing gold mine Kumtor is back in the spotlight, after its major shareholder, Canadian company Centerra Gold’s environmental record was questioned by the Kyrgyz public, domestic activists, and international experts. The controversy surrounding Kumtor has translated into a highly politicized backlash in Kyrgyzstan over a lack of transparency and Centerra’s unwillingness to disclose information on the harmful effect of the mining operations on glaciers. In light of the growing public pressure on Centerra Gold in the republic, one of the Kumtor project’s creditors, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has come under scrutiny.
Poland’s ‘dirty’ Eastern block shows some cracks
EurActiv | October 28, 2014Horse trading intensifies as the eleventh hour approaches for the EU to decide on its 2030 climate and energy policy. And while Poland has led an Eastern coalition to resist ambitious targets for Europe, Ondrej Pasek writes that some may be only reluctantly following Warsaw.
Melting glaciers add to woes at Kumtor
Asia Times Online | October 28, 2014Kumtor mine is the largest open pit gold deposit in Central Asia, whose majority shareholder since 2004 has been Centerra Gold, a Canadian mining company. The mine sits at an altitude of 4,000 meters above sea level, in the Tien Shan mountain range and among some of Kyrgyzstan’s – and the region’s – most important glaciers. These feed into the Naryn (Kyrgyzstan) and Syrdarya (Uzbekistan) rivers. Kumtor’s main gold-bearing ore lies under glaciers adjacent to Kyrgyzstan’s Sarychat-Ertash state reserve.
Bankwatch warns of corruption at Plomin C
Energetika | October 15, 2014over 10 hits in national and regional media, including croatian evening news
False Data in EIA for New Bosnian and Herzegovinian Power Plant Ugljevik III
Energetika | October 8, 2014http://www.energetika.net/eu/novice/clanki/false-data-in-eia-for-new-bosnian-and-herzegovinian-power-pl?utm_source=en.news
EU energy plans in limbo as MEPs grill proposed commission
RTCC | October 8, 2014Former Slovenian prime minister Alenka Bratusek branded “vague and evasive” in EU Parliament interrogation
Croatia: Marubeni Japan and Alstom’s corruption records cast new doubts on Croatian coal project, warns new analysis
Serbia Energy | October 2, 2014Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and France’s Alstom – who have together been chosen as the preferred bidding consortium for the Plomin C* coal power plant project in Croatia – have a poor integrity record including several convictions for corruption offences which should raise alarm bells and increase vigilance among the Croatian public and potential financiers of the project, according to a new paper by CEE Bankwatch Network, published today.
