Updates on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

From Enver Hoxha to the EBRD (and back) – hydropower in Albania

The EBRD and Societe Generale are now sponsoring a mass-scale construction project across Albania. Over 300 hydropower plants in various stages of development are posing real threats to the mountainous country’s nature and people. They should avoid repeating Ever Hoxha’s concrete folly.

Locals oppose dam that is set to endanger critical fish habitat in Bosnia-Herzegovina

We are passing through the canyon of the river Vrbas, in north-west Bosnia-Herzegovina. I am looking through a car window, mouth wide open in awe. While I look up to the rocky, edgy peaks hundreds of meters above and down to the heavenly blue river, I

Comments on Environmental Impact Assessment procedure for the Tsumeb smelter in Namibia

[Campaign update] Court confirms attacks on Ukrainian villagers are related to poultry business

The Court of Appeal of the Cherkasy region in central Ukraine sided with community activist Nina Martynovska from the Ratseve village who was brutally beaten because of her opposition to the construction of poultry farm facilities by Peremoha Nova, a subsidiary of Ukrainian agribusiness giant MHP.

If the EBRD stands for democracy it should not support TAP – Italian community addresses bank’s directors

At a meeting with the directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Bankwatch campaigners read a statement from Italian communities opposing the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, the last leg of the Southern Gas Corridor, a 3500 km pipeline

Members of European Parliament ask European Commission to take firm position on nuclear transparency, public engagement and safety across Europe

In this joint letter, 18 members of the European Parliament, Nuclear Transparency Watch and CEE Bankwatch Network are asking the European Commission, as an opinion-making party of relevant international conventions, to provide leadership and express it

MHP: Is compliance with Ukrainian law satisfactory for the EBRD?

In spite of massive backing by public financial sources, Ukraine’s monopolist poultry producer does not implement relevant EU and EBRD standards, and the EBRD has said it is satisfied that the company’s operations are in compliance with national law, w

“To the best of our knowledge”: How to improve the transparency and accountability of intermediated EBRD investments in three steps

Disbursing public money via private-sector controlled financial intermediaries (FIs) is a means to an end: reaching a larger set of smaller beneficiaries. It has its strong rationale, in particular when it comes to renewable energy projects that, in co

Serbian mining company ignores desperate calls for compensation while Kolubara mine is reaching family houses

Life is a living hell for families in Vreoci, Serbia, where lignite excavators have almost reached their houses. As the mine’s financier, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development must not allow Serbian state utility EPS to create a fait accompli that leaves locals with scraps and without home.

Nenskra hydropower plant project, Georgia

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is in the process of assessing a loan for the 280 megawatt Nenskra hydropower plant in Georgia. In March supplementary environmental and social impact assessments (ESIA) were released in order