The Skopje Green City Action Plan – developing a city for citizens or for decision makers?
Blog entry | 29 July, 2019The preparation of the Skopje Green City needs to be transparent and to include citizens and civil society in a meaningful way from the early stages of planning.
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Submission on the European financial architecture for development
Publication | 23 July, 2019In the Submission to the High Level Group of Wise Persons on the European financial architecture for development, civil society organisations CEE Bankwatch Network, Concord, Counter Balance and Eurodad welcome the European Council’s initiative to revie
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Belgrade incinerator: Serbia to be a dumping ground for outdated technology?
Blog entry | 22 July, 2019The Serbian Ministry of Environment recently published the environmental assessment for the planned Vinča waste incinerator for public consultation. But the study shows no sign that the new plant would be in line with new EU pollution control standards approved in June.
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Ahead of Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank meeting in Luxembourg, over 89 000 petition bank to drop Nenskra dam project in Georgia
Press release | 12 July, 2019Luxembourg, Prague, Tbilisi – Representatives from the “Stop Nenskra” campaign [1] showed up in Luxembourg at the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) annual meeting on July 12th and delivered a petition to the international development banks calling them on not to finance the Nenskra hydropower plant project [2] in Svaneti, Georgia.
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In Georgia, leaked contract shows Nenskra hydropower project to cost country USD 60 million a year
Press release | 10 June, 2019For 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].
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Bulgarian villagers call on the EBRD to ensure fair resettlement by coal company it finances
Press release | 29 May, 2019Beli 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]
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EBRD tightens standards in response to Balkan hydropower boom
Blog entry | 16 May, 2019As 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.
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Nenskra hydropower project: May 2019 update
Publication | 14 May, 2019Given 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. Read mor
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European Development Bank Significantly Strengthens its Grievance Mechanism – Reformed Mechanism Now More Independent
Press release | 9 May, 2019(Amsterdam, Prague, Washington, D.C.) — Civil society organizations welcomed the new grievance mechanism policy for the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
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Five reasons why EBRD should pull out of the controversial Nenskra hydropower project
Blog entry | 8 May, 2019As the realisation of the project keeps dragging on, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the EBRD, and all international financial institutions involved, to justify their engagement.
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