Comments on the EBRD’s Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure Strategy
Publication | 6 May, 2012One of Bankwatch’s main concerns with the EBRD’s municipal and environmental infrastructure strategy is the bank’s approach towards public-private partnerships, which one the one hand is more cautious than before. On the other hand however, while the bank’s analysis recognises some of the drawbacks, it still too openly promotes them.
Read moreEBRD fresh plans show intent to pour more public money into coal
Press release | 26 April, 2012Brussels – In a draft mining strategy published yesterday, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) made it clear that it intends to continue investing in the coal sector for years to come.(1) Supporting the coal sector with European public money is unacceptable, according to CEE Bankwatch Network, as it undermines the EU’s climate policy and the transition to a decarbonised European economy that the EU and the EBRD both claim to support.(2)
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Chernobyl at 26: nuclear dynamite is growing in Ukraine
Blog entry | 26 April, 201226 years ago, the days after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl had been marked by the glaring lack of information. Today, Europe’s population is similarly clueless as back then about the nuclear risk brewing in Ukraine.
Read moreExpert comment on cutback in production at Kumtor gold mine due to massive flow of ice and waste rock into the mine
Publication | 25 April, 2012Centerra Gold’s announcement that the February 2012 ice and waste fall into the Kumtor pit will result in a cutback in gold production indicates that the measures the company has put in place to address the causes of past pit wall failures have been ineffective since those measures were not effective at preventing Davidov ice and waste from falling into the open pit and causing the current production cutback.
Read moreSlovenia: The EBRD freezes loan disbursements in Alstom’s coal project over corruption allegations. NGOs call on the EIB to follow suit
Press release | 18 April, 2012Paris, 18 April 2012 — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced that it is freezing the disbursement of the promised EUR 100 million loan for the construction of a new lignite block at thermal power plant TES 6 in Šoštanj, Slovenia. The decision by the EBRD comes after a group of Slovenian and international NGOs approached the EBRD asking for the bank to halt the loan until corruption allegations are investigated.(1)
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Suspension or no suspension, the EBRD freezes disbursements for the Šoštanj lignite power plant
Blog entry | 18 April, 2012With the decision to freeze the disbursement of a loan for the Šoštanj lignite power plant in Slovenia, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development seemingly reacts to the many controversial points Bankwatch and other organisations have raised about the project.
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Khimki Forest activist wins Goldman Environmental Prize
Blog entry | 16 April, 2012One of this year’s winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize is Russian Khimki Forest defender Evgenia Chirikova, but the good news is being overshadowed by continued violence against other Khimki activists.
Read morePhoto report from Kiev Chop road rehabilitation – dangers and hardships for local communities
Publication | 13 April, 2012The rehabilitation of the Kiev-Chop road, financed with the help of EBRD and EIB loans, was part of the preparations for the Euro 2012 championships in Poland and Ukraine. Due to a negligent implementation, the project resulted in local people having to face dangerous, even life threatening situations every day.
Read moreGazela reloaded: another illegal Roma resettlement in Serbia on account of an EIB funded project
Press release | 13 April, 2012Belgrade – By the end of April, one hundred Roma families are expected to be illegally resettled from Belgrade neighbourhood Buvljak to several locations including Resnik, where current inhabitants are these days protesting against their arrival [1]. The resettlement is being carried out by Belgrade authorities without a proper resettlement plan or any consideration of the needs of the Roma and potential for inter-racial conflict [2]. The move is deemed necessary as part of the Sava Bridge and adjacent road construction, financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank respectively. [3]
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Campaign asks UniCredit to ‘get out of coal’
Blog entry | 12 April, 2012Pressure is growing not only on international financial institutions but also on private banks to stop financing fossil fuels.
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