Updates on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Hatching discontent in Ukraine

In Ukraine, big agriculture uses unscrupulous methods to manufacture consensus for expansion and marginalise local communities – often with the support of international donors.

Azerbaijan suspended from the EITI – a Bankwatch and Counter Balance statement

A decision to suspend Azerbaijan’s membership in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) adopted yesterday (Mar 9) is the latest reminder for international financial institutes to avoid supporting the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project.

Tackling gender inequality at the EU’s flagship energy project

It is fitting that we use today to reflect on the European Investment Bank’s new Strategy on Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment: 8 March is International Women’s Day. Adopted at the beginning of this year, the strategy complements the ban

[Campaign update] Ukrainian nuclear power consultations could be Potemkin villages

On Sunday, March 5, nuclear reactor number 3 at the Zaporizhia power plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, will reach the end of its 30 year lifespan. Kiev wants to keep this Soviet-era nuclear unit going for at least ten more years

Small is (not always) beautiful: small hydro development in the Western Balkans

It has long been recognised that the human and environmental costs of large dams are extremely high. But what about small ones? Here we unpack some of the myths being spread about small hydropower in the Balkans.

[Campaign update] Protestors take to Kyiv to demand action from agribusiness giant encroaching on their lands

On 22 February, more than 70 activists and residents from the Chyhyryn region south of Kyiv protested outside the headquarters of Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP), the Ukrainian agribusiness conglomerate owned by one of the country’s richest billionaires.

Question marks abound over EU-Azerbaijan gas tango

Ministers, ambassadors and envoys from at least 15 countries, including Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission’s Vice President for the Energy Union, are gathered today in the Azerbaijani capital to discuss the progress on the Southern Gas Corridor, t

Ukraine’s addiction to nuclear energy poses a decades-long threat to Europe

Despite an urgent need to rebuild and reshape its highly inefficient and outdated energy sector, Ukraine has recently presented a draft of its new energy strategy that looks more like of the same. While the strategy makes mention of modern renewable en

Concerns regarding the EBRD’s Project Complaint Mechanism and recommendations for improvements – letter to EBRD directors

This letter to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Board of Directors summarises civil society organisations’ concerns regarding bank’s Project Complaints Mechanism, specifically the handling of several complaints, and makes specific recommendations for improvements, based on experience with these cases and with the accountability mechanisms of other institutions.

Investigation needed into Bratislava Bypass project – letter to EBRD compliance office