European public banks must disengage with Egypt’s military junta
Press release | 22 November, 2011In light of the violence against civilians on the streets of Egypt today, CEE Bankwatch Network is requesting that the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development immediately cease discussions and negotiations with the Egyptian government and authorities on all levels about potential financial involvement in the country until the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) cedes power to civilian leaders, the country has a legitimately-elected civilian government in control of the army, and military trials come to an end.
Read moreThe people’s perspective please: are public social safety nets important?
Blog entry | 16 November, 2011Yesterday, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) published its Transition Report for 2011, subtitled “The People’s Perspective”. This is because the study pays unprecedented attention to how regular households in post-socialist countries are managing after almost three years of economic crisis.
Read moreAn EBRD interpretation of biodiversity protection in the western Balkans
Blog entry | 14 November, 2011With potentially devastating impacts on natural habitats, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has so far offered no real commitment to environmental protection in its ambiguous decisions on two hydropower plants in Croatia and Macedonia.
Read moreOmbla hydropower plant: public money down the sinkhole
Blog entry | 14 November, 2011Today Bankwatch member group Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth – Croatia held an action today outside the offices of the EBRD in Zagreb, calling on the bank not to approve a planned loan of up to EUR 123 million for the Ombla hydropower plant project. You can see some images from the demo here.
Read moreThe recap on recapitalisation
Blog entry | 11 November, 2011As the eurozone crisis continues to unfold, lending from international financial institutions to the banking sector must be held to the task of supporting the most vulnerable – especially the SMEs in CEE – or it will continue to perform largely unsuccessful and unchecked as it has during the crisis to date.
Read moreNGO coalition urges EBRD not to finance destruction of national park in Macedonia
Press release | 7 November, 2011Skopje – A coalition of more than 30 Macedonian and international NGOs are calling on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) not to finance Boskov Most hydro power plant in north-western Macedonia. The project would seriously damage Mavrovo national park, the largest in the country and a potential Natura 2000 site, while at the same time being envisaged to produce a relatively small amount of electricity to be used only for the stabilization of the national energy system.
Read moreHydropower vs. nature in southeast Europe: EBRD complicity in environmental crime?
Blog entry | 31 October, 2011Why is it that when we advocate for something to the international financial institutions (IFIs) they often manage to give it a peculiar twist of their own?
Read moreNGOs call on the EBRD not to finance “high risk” underground HPP in Croatia
Press release | 26 October, 2011Zagreb — Croatian and international environmental organisations have today called on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) not to go ahead with a planned EUR 123 million loan for the Ombla hydropower plant near Dubrovnik in Croatia, due to be approved by the bank’s Board of Directors on November 8. In an open letter to the bank, the organisations point to ecological, economic, and procedural problems with the plans, which even the consultants hired by the EBRD to assess the project have described as “high risk”.
Read moreThe art of sustainability is not to finance coal
Blog entry | 20 October, 2011Upset by Slovenia’s plans to build a huge lignite power plant unit in Sostanj, Slovenian artist Marko Kumer-Murc and Slovene environmentalists from Focus brought their protest to Brussels. Our media officer was on sight and brought back a few images.
Read moreArt installation at Berlaymont denounces banking on coal
Press release | 19 October, 2011Brussels – With an art installation that symbolizes EU citizens locked in a polluted environment, the Slovenian artist Marko Kumer Murč and Slovene environmentalists from Focus protest against European public and private banks pouring hundreds of millions of euros into a new lignite plant in their country, at Sostanj. Many Slovenians oppose this project and the Slovenian parliament has just refused to support a state guarantee for the banks’ loans. The action is supported by the international NGOs Banktrack and CEE Bankwatch Network, which are campaigning against the project.
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