Where’s Plan B for Kosovo’s energy sector?
Blog entry | 18 March, 2014When it comes to Kosovo’s energy future, institution after institution has been putting most of its eggs in a ‘new lignite’ basket while some very reasonable alternative investment options seem to fall by the wayside.
Read moreGeorgian Ministry of Energy orders use of force against local protesters who fear landslides from hydro construction
Blog entry | 14 March, 2014Last weekend, the Georgian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources again left no doubt about where its main interests lie: enforcing the massive exploitation of Georgia’s hydropower potential despite and against people’s concerns and if necessary by use of force.
Read moreNGOs respond to EU aid for Ukraine: watch for the devil in the details
Press release | 6 March, 2014Prague — As the European Council on aid to Ukraine concludes today in Brussels NGOs caution that the 11 billion euros put forward by the EU come on terms which will not necessarily foster an independent, self-reliant Ukraine.
Read moreEuropean Development Bank: Backward Step on Rights – Draft Policy Would Weaken Protection
Press release | 5 March, 2014(London) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) new draft Environment and Social Policy would fail to weed out abusive development projects, seven human rights and bank watchdog organizations said today in a joint statement. The bank’s consultation on the draft policy closes on March 5, 2014. It then has an opportunity to revise the policy before sending it to the bank’s board for approval in the coming months.
Read moreIn Albania, oil’s history casts long shadows over locals
Blog entry | 21 February, 2014The findings of a visit to the EBRD sponsored Patos Marinza oil field in Albania show how local development and investments in resource extraction often do not go hand in hand. The case provides valuable lessons for the revision of the EBRD’s safeguard policies.
Read moreEIB suspends operations in Ukraine, EBRD ducks the question
Press release | 20 February, 2014Kiev – The European Investment Bank announced the suspension of all activities in Ukraine yesterday following the most violent day since protests in this country began. In its turn, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development declared it would “concentrate on the private sector”, hardly a meaningful stance considering the close links between government and the business sector in this country.
Read moreQuantity over quality in EBRD food security initiative – Evidence from pig farms in Ukraine
Blog entry | 19 February, 2014The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development praises its own achievements in the agricultural sector. A look at Ukraine, however, reveals how sustainable food provision, local communities and the quality of soil are falling by the wayside with the bank’s focus on big industrial operations.
Read moreGMOs, water grab and ice cream for the masses – the EBRD gets involved with Nestlé Egypt
Blog entry | 13 February, 2014Update: The EBRD clarified in its correspondence with Baby Milk Action that its loan will not be used to finance infant nutrition.
Read moreGeorgian hydro projects are a test case for the EBRD’s good governance policies
Blog entry | 12 February, 2014As activists pointed out at a consultation meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia’s hydropower sector has plenty of lessons to be learned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Read moreUkraine and the EBRD: More than technicalities derail the fight against corruption
Blog entry | 6 February, 2014Before claiming the moral high ground on fighting corruption in Ukraine, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development should first of all brush up its own transparency policy and drop old-fashioned arguments in favour of confidentiality and secret conditionalities in its projects.
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