Sharing the shale experience
Blog entry | 29 July, 2014Shale gas has become a focal point of interest for central and eastern European governments, with oil corporations (not only) from the West ready to start drilling as soon as possible. But protests have sparked across the region from Zurawlow in Poland to Pungesti in Romania. We spoke with two anti-fracking activists working on the Neuquén province in Argentina where the struggles of local communities against conventional oil and gas exploration are now amplified by even more problems related to unconventional fuels.
Read moreCity of Zagreb still playing with fire
Blog entry | 18 July, 2014Seasoned Bankwatch-watchers may recall our successful four-year campaign to stop the EBRD from financing a waste incinerator just outside Zagreb. Between 2005 and 2008, we supported Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia and local group UZOR to prevent the City of Zagreb from building a huge 385 000 tonnes per year waste incinerator in Resnik on the outskirts of Croatia’s capital.
Read moreA Private Affair: Report shows how development finance institutions benefit the rich in Western countries
Blog entry | 11 July, 2014A new report shows how private western-based companies are benefiting from multilateral development banks’ support while governments and citizens in recipient countries are delegated to the sidelines.
Read moreEBRD in Serbia: Don’t use floods to prop up coal
Press release | 7 July, 2014The EBRD should stick to its newly approved Energy Strategy and reject any investments in the Serbian coal sector, argue a group of 7 international NGOs in a letter sent to the bank’s board of directors today. The groups were concerned with recent statements by the EBRD according to which the bank’s regional flood response in the Balkans could include “rehabilitation of (…) damaged power stations and transmission and distribution networks.”
Read moreWill Georgia go green after EU association agreement?
Blog entry | 26 June, 2014On Friday Georgia will sign an association agreement with the European Union, meaning that our country will start cooperating more closely with the EU and even implement more European legislation. This is good news, particularly when it comes to the environment.
Read moreNew mega gas pipelines redundant according to EU’s own projections
Press release | 12 June, 2014The EU’s plans for large new gas import pipelines and LNG terminals to Europe, outlined in the European Commission’s October 2013 list of priority energy projects as well as in the May blueprint for energy security to be discussed during tomorrow’s Energy Council, are not only counter to the EU’s long-term climate goals but also unjustified according to the EC’s own demand forecast.
Read moreTransition triumphs and traps – Assessing Poland’s recent economic journey, and where it goes next
Blog entry | 4 June, 2014During last month’s EBRD annual meeting in Warsaw, Bankwatch Mail convened a discussion about the state of the Polish economy between a financial journalist and a sociologist – both residents of the Polish capital – to hear their views on some of the pressing economic issues of the day, as well as the ongoing Polish ‘transition’ process. With the 25th anniversary of the end of communist rule in Poland a few months away now (today in fact marks a quarter of a century since the first Polish elections under communism), what have been the achievements and the lessons to be learned from the last two and half decades?
Read moreWhen water mixes with coal – The impacts of the floods in Serbia on people living next to lignite mines
Blog entry | 30 May, 2014People living next to the Kolubara lignite mine in Serbia have suffered more under the floods due to the vicinity of the mine. Their demands for resettlement and compensation have now become more urgent than ever.
Read moreMore repression, more money – Financing transition in Egypt
Blog entry | 27 May, 2014New cases of arbitrary repression against civil society happened in the run-up to the presidential elections in Egypt. A look at the loans so far approved by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development suggests that those in power have been more successful in receiving the bank’s support.
Read moreWho is Jan Kulczyk, the man behind Serinus Energy?
Press release | 19 May, 2014In the summer of last year, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved a 60 million euro loan to Serinus Energy for financing the development of four oil and gas fields in Tunisia (Sabria, Chouech Essaida, Ech Chouechand Sanrahr) between 2013 and 2017.
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