Established to promote transition to market-oriented economies in the countries of central and eastern Europe and Central Asia, the EBRD’s lending often fails to benefit the people in these countries and regularly prioritises carbon-intensive and environmentally damaging development.
Alternative news on the EBRD
Harsh economic realities and the discernible trend of democratic retrenchment in EBRD recipient countries suggest there are serious deficiencies in the bank’s overall ‘market-oriented’ approach.
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EBRD PROJECTS WE MONITOR
Boskov most hydropower plant, North Macedonia
Boskov Most was one of 18 hydropower greenfield projects planned by the North Macedonian government in the Mavrovo National Park. After five years of campaigning, we convinced the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development about the folly of this project and to cancel its EUR 65 million loan. Without its major source of funding, the project lost steam and was discontinued.
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Krapska Reka small hydropower plant, Macedonia
Loopholes in the EBRD’s due diligence, together with a lack of assessment and monitoring by Macedonia’s local and central government, has proven to be a lethal combination for the country’s rivers. A prime example is the Krapska Reka small hydropower project. The authorities’ failure to recognise the location as part of the proposed Jakupica National Park, Emerald area and a future Natura 2000 site, on top of poor mitigation measures and construction practices, have caused irreversible damage to this small river valley.
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Dabrova Dolina hydropower plant, Croatia
A harmless-sounding mill conversion project on Croatia’s stunning river Mrežnica is a textbook example of how even small hydropower plants can damage protected areas. It also exemplifies the lack of transparency and oversight of investments that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development channelled through commercial bank intermediaries.
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LATEST UPDATES
Corporate loans – the rotten apple in EBRD’s Environmental and Social Policy?
Blog entry | 18 April, 2019As the Board of Directors is expected to vote any day now on the renewed Policy which lays out the conditions for reaching the Bank’s sustainability mandate and commitment to EU standards, a compliance review on Serbia’s energy company’s corporate restructuring loan calls for clearer and stronger safeguards for corporate level loans.
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New report highlights misuse of banking secrecy rules
Blog entry | 26 March, 2019BankTrack’s study finds that client confidentiality is not an absolute legal requirement in any of the world’s major banking centres. Banks can – and do – include the right to disclose information into their contracts. Will the EIB & EBRD acknowledge this in their policies on intermediated lending?
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Milestone bank summit in Belgrade a step towards protecting Balkan rivers, but greater transparency still needed
Press release | 1 March, 2019For immediate release. Belgrade – The ‘Save the Blue Heart of Europe’ campaign [1] gave a cautious welcome to a first-of-its-kind summit between the financial sector and green activists, where a roundtable about the role of banks in the destruction of Balkan rivers by hydropower dams was centre stage.
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LATEST PUBLICATION
This report is a critical analysis, with regard to the impacts on biodiversity, of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of the Amulsar Gold Project. Special attention has been paid to the biodiversity offsetting proposal for creation o
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Our critique of the EBRD
After more than two decades of promoting market economies in post-Soviet countries, the EBRD has a poor track record of keeping up with its mission to protect human rights and the environment and promote sustainable development.
For the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall we collected examples of EBRD operations to illustrate just how the bank’s activities are often not worth celebrating – at least not for the affected people and environment.
Strong safeguard policies to guide bank lending are essential. At the EBRD meetings we are pushing for these types of reforms based on our collected experience with bank projects across the region.
Too often the EBRD safeguard policies fail to deliver protection for people, climate and the environment. What can be done?
Bankwatch produced this video for the 20th anniversary of EBRD operations, at a time when the bank announced intentions to extend its operational activities to north Africa.
Toolkit for civil society
Guidance on how to use the EBRD’s grievance mechanism for civil society, local groups and individuals that are adversely affected by a bank project.
