Civil society groups urge the EBRD to rethink mining investments
Press release | 20 September, 2023Twenty civil society organisations from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Mongolia, Uganda, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, as well as seven international environmental and human rights organisations, are calling on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to reconsider its approach to mining investments.
Read moreComplaint filed against EBRD: labour rights violations, land grabs and exploitation at cotton producer Indorama Agro in Uzbekistan
Press release | 5 September, 2023On 3 August 2023, Uzbek Forum for Human Rights (Uzbek Forum), assisted by Bankwatch Network, filed a complaint with the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for human rights violations at Indorama Agro, one of Uzbekistan’s largest cotton producers.
Read moreIs this development? Public development banks must rethink their investments and put local communities first
Blog entry | 4 September, 2023On 4 to 6 September, the world’s public development banks will gather for the Finance in Common Summit in Cartagena, Colombia. They’ll be discussing key development issues – from climate change to infrastructure – issues that affect the lives of millions of people around the world. Bankwatch is on the ground to expose the adverse impacts of investments made by development banks and advocates for meaningful community participation in decision-making on development projects.
Read moreCivil society calls on public development banks to overhaul their approach to development
Press release | 4 September, 2023As a member of the Coalition for Human Rights in Development, Bankwatch has joined civil society organisations and human rights defenders from over 20 countries in calling for immediate and effective action from public development banks.
Read moreAdriatic Metals’ ruthless mining: How can the EBRD help improve its clients’ practices when it doesn’t follow its own standards?
Blog entry | 27 July, 2023The DFF Adriatic Metals project, located between the towns of Vareš and Kakanj in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is proclaimed by the investor to be setting new benchmarks for sustainable mining and committing to safety, community, and sustainability – claims not shared by people living in Kakanj.
Read moreSeven years after joining the EBRD’s Green Cities programme, is Yerevan’s green future going up in flames?
Blog entry | 2 June, 2023In May 2023, a massive fire broke out at the Nubarashen landfill on the outskirts of Yerevan, enveloping the city in a cloud of toxic smoke generated by the burning waste. It took 10 days and 2,300 truckloads of soil to extinguish the flames. Coming seven years after Yerevan became a pioneer by joining the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)’s Green Cities initiative, this incident is a stark reminder of the urgent need to adopt a safer and more sustainable approach to waste management and urban planning.
Read moreThe unexplained backtracking of the EBRD and Tbilisi City Hall: why did they keep the contract with a Russian company?
Press release | 13 March, 2023The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing funding to Tbilisi City Hall to purchase metro cars for the Georgian capital’s metro system from a Russian company, Metrowagonmash. The company is part of Transmashholding, whose shareholders – Russian oligarchs Iskander Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev – are closely linked with the Kremlin and its defence industry. Metrowagonmash’s sister company is also reportedly providing engines for Russian warships.
Read moreEBRD funds channelled to Kremlin affiliates: Why the purchase of Tbilisi metro cars from a Russian company should not proceed as planned
Blog entry | 13 March, 2023The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing funding to Tbilisi City Hall to purchase metro cars for the Georgian capital’s metro system from Russian company Metrowagonmash. But Metrowagonmash is not just any Russian company.
Read moreEBRD: Everything is peachy, just trust us!
Blog entry | 17 February, 2023The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) appears keen to finance a major new pipeline to import fossil gas from Greece to North Macedonia, which would lock the country into increased fossil gas use for decades. Yet when the rationale for this is questioned, the EBRD fails to provide relevant data to justify its claims.
Read moreEBRD investments in Ukrainian agro-giant MHP under investigation
Blog entry | 2 February, 2023After years of community complaints about the environmental and social damage caused by Ukrainian agro-giant Myronivsky Hliboprodukt (MHP), independent investigators are now looking into the role of international public finance in contributing to those harms. Considering the current food crisis, Ukraine’s important role in the global food supply chain and the prospect of more international investments to prop up Ukraine’s economy, it is time for financiers to learn the lessons of their past mistakes.
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