Nenskra hydropower plant, Georgia
Publication | 2 February, 2016For the last decade, the government of Georgia has promoted hydropower as a way of tackling energy security and turning the country into a regional energy player. The EBRD has been one of the key catalysts of this hydro boom. Yet the presence of the EBRD and other international financial institutions has not been enough to ensure the development of comprehensive energy strategies, robust project assessments and meaningful public consultations. The potential for social and environmental problems is therefore prevalent. The Nenskra hydropower plant is yet another project that lacks the proper assessment and has failed to gain acceptance from the local communities.
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Issues with Serbian electricity company EPS need to be addressed within new EBRD loan
Publication | 1 February, 2016As part of its new EUR 200 million loan to the Serbian electricity company EPS, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development aims to assist with “identifying opportunities to improve environmental, safety, social, and labour governance and capacity, and on helping EPS to develop a more strategic approach to managing these issues”. As outlined in this briefing, so far the EBRD’s fifteen-year partnership with EPS has not brought visible improvements in company practices and it is high time for the bank to prove that its engagement can add value.
Read moreProblematic expansion of agribusiness giant MHP in Ukraine with EBRD support
Publication | 1 February, 2016Myronivsky Hliboproduct PJSC, also known as MHP, is a long-term client of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Following loands in 2013 and 2010, the EBRD approved a USD 85 million loan on 28 October 2015 to support MHP’s agricultural working capital needs. While the agricultural sector is widely viewed as one of the engines of the Ukrainian economy, MHP’s operations are having a range of negative impacts on local communities.
Read moreReport finds development banks fail people harmed by their projects
Press release | 27 January, 2016A new report launched today documents the hurdles communities and workers face in obtaining remedy from development banks whose projects cause them harm. The 11 civil society organizations that authored the report, Glass Half Full? The State of Accountability in Development Finance, call on development banks and the governments that run them to strengthen their systems for providing remedy to those harmed by the activities financed by the banks.
Read moreGlass Half Full? The state of accountability in development finance
Publication | 27 January, 2016Real development respects human rights and is shaped by the people it is designed to benefit. However, development projects financed by development finance institutions in many cases has been associated with the dispossession of land, loss of resources, diminished livelihoods and environmental degradation. Accountability mechanisms in theory aim to ensure that people who have been harmed by these projects receive adequate remedy. As this report shows, however, these accountability mechanisms to a large extent fail to fulfil this function, not least because they operate in a constrained environment constructed by the institutions that administer them.
Read moreUkraine Nuclear Safety Upgrade Programme: loan conditions not met
Publication | 21 January, 2016The Ukrainian government continues to disregard the legal conditions attached to the financial support it receives from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Euratom for its nuclear safety upgrade program.
Read moreLynxed in: EBRD still can’t say no to destructive Macedonian dam
Publication | 17 December, 2015The latest blow to the highly controversial 68 megawatt Boškov Most hydropower plant, that has attracted EUR 65 million in financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), was dealt in early December by the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention, the European wildlife treaty.
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Nuclear plant shenanigans intensify in Ukraine
Publication | 17 December, 2015An ageing nuclear unit in the South Ukraine power plant has become the latest to have its expiry date rewritten by Ukrainian authorities, despite a number of pending safety issues and concerns over compliance with international treaties.
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Reckless dam financing rampant in the Balkans
Publication | 17 December, 2015A new Bankwatch report has found that loans totalling EUR 818 million from international public ‘development’ banks have supported 75 hydropower projects in the Balkans, including 30 which directly affect protected areas such as national parks, Natura 2000 sites and Ramsar sites.
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Greening the EBRD’s portfolio – or greenwashing it
Publication | 17 December, 2015No matter how you look at it, the so-called sustainable energy approach being taken – and loudly trumpeted – by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is simply at odds with both climate science and the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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