Repression and carbon lock-in required for security and sustainability?
Publication | 14 May, 2015With construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) in Turkey getting under way, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) consortium awarding contracts for the construction of access infrastructure in Albania, and Russian pipeline plans lagging behind, the Southern Corridor for Azerbaijan’s gas exports to Europe is increasingly looking like a done deal. Or at least that is what the project promoters would have us believe.
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Some Arab CSO aspirations and concerns for the EBRD annual meeting
Publication | 14 May, 2015The economic model with which the EBRD operates often fails to understand and respond to the development challenges of Arab countries.
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Georgia’s hydropower revolution far from rosy for communities, the environment and the economy
Publication | 14 May, 2015For Shuakhevi as with other large dams recently built or planned in Georgia, it all adds up for western planners and financiers. The final bill for the Georgian population and environment, though, is still a long way from being finalised.
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#SaveGeorgianNaturefromEBRDfinancedDams
Publication | 14 May, 2015In the run-up to this year’s annual meeting in Tbilisi, the EBRD has taken to social media, via the hashtag #Georgia15, to invite Twitter users to share “beautiful photos of Georgia with a global audience”.
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Pressure mounts on EBRD to quit Macedonian dam folly
Publication | 14 May, 2015Macedonia’s Mavrovo national park is the largest and richest national park in the country and home to the critically endangered Balkan Lynx. The Macedonian government, however, has plans to also make Mavrovo the home for two large and around 20 small hydro power plants. Could the EBRD cancel its involvement in one of the projects?
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EBRD digs in deeper with Serbian coal king
Publication | 14 May, 2015Earlier this year, Serbian media reported that the EBRD was considering providing a new EUR 200 million loan for the financial restructuring of the state-owned electric utility power company of Serbia, EPS. The EBRD Director for Serbia, Mateo Patrone, was quoted by B92.net saying that the loan is aimed at helping the financial restructuring of EPS. Meanwhile, the EBRD’s country strategy for Serbia, approved by its board of directors last April, highlights the bank’s “key role in promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy” for the country.
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Bankwatch fact-finding mission to Tunisia reveals major flaws in EBRD oil and gas investment
Publication | 14 May, 2015In July 2013 the EBRD approved its second loan in Tunisia, to Serinus Energy. With the EBRD investment portfolio in Tunisia standing at the end of 2014 at EUR 212 million the Serinus Energy loan represents roughly 25 percent of all EBRD loans in Tunisia to date and is the only loan to have gone to the country’s natural resources and energy sector. With such a significance, therefore, surely the EBRD would make every effort to ensure that the project meets the Performance Requirements of its own Environmental and social policy (from 2008) and that it demonstrates a positive transition impact for Tunisia?
Read moreOhrid – Peshtani expressway project, Macedonia
Publication | 13 May, 2015The project involves the construction of a new section between Ohrid and Pestani on the A3 express ‘Kosel’ to the Albanian border crossing at Ljubanishta. The new 12.5 kilometre section is at a higher elevation than the existing coastal road and towns and will pass through the Galicica National Park. This projects is part of a sovereign guaranteed loan of up to EUR 160 million.
Read moreExternal review of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of the Nenskra hydropower plant
Publication | 13 May, 2015The Georgian Ministry of Environment has commissioned an external review of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of the Nenskra hydropower plant before issuing its ecological expertise opinion which is a prerequisite for a construction permit. This review indicates that the ESIA report for Nenskra fails to sufficiently define the area of influence, suggest project alternatives, assess the impacts on the local communities and evaluate the costs and benefits of the project for the Georgian society.
Read moreEBRD money and nuclear safety in Ukraine: Being a lender does not guarantee leverage
Publication | 12 May, 2015The EBRD has denied its role in enabling Ukraine’s ageing units to operate beyond their design lifetime. It has also claimed that through the loan it has important leverage over its client Energoatom to help ensure a proper level of nuclear safety and the compliance with Ukraine’s international commitments in the nuclear energy sector. However, developments in January-May 2015 show the EBRD has been over-optimistic about the role and leverage it has gotten by granting the loan for the safety upgrade project.
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