Crunch time at Sostanj
Blog entry | 5 November, 2012November is shaping up to be crunch time for a new 600 MW lignite plant planned to be built at Sostanj in Slovenia. If the Slovenian government doesn’t manage to offer a state guarantee for loans from European public banks that should cover half the construction costs by the end of this month, the project could fail. At Bankwatch, we’re preparing our popcorn for the latest Sostanj thriller, on show across Europe this month.
Read moreCovering the Balkans in Soot: The New European Energy Community Strategy Favours Fossil Fuel Reliance
Press release | 17 October, 2012Brussels — Neighbouring countries of the EU from the Western Balkans to Ukraine are planning unsustainable energy futures relying on coal and nuclear. An energy strategy for the region to be approved Thursday by the European Energy Community indicates that such investments in dirty fuels could happen with EU support and financing.
Read moreNew Slovene legal requirements for Šoštanj lignite power plant (TEŠ 6) regarding CCS
Publication | 17 October, 2012On September 8, 2012 new legislation entered into force in Slovenia that requires TEŠ to prepare an assessment of the CCS readiness for its new Unit 6. Pursuant to this legislation, proper assessment of the CCS readiness for the Unit 6 has not taken place yet. As a result, TEŠ has not met the legal requirements regarding the CCS assessment and therefore it is not possible to determine its CCS readiness under the Slovene law. Letter available as pdf: Letter to the European Investment Bank >>> Letter to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development >>>
Read moreComments on draft European Energy Community Strategy – an unsustainable energy future
Publication | 15 October, 2012Neighbouring countries of the EU from the Western Balkans to Ukraine are planning unsustainable energy futures relying on coal and nuclear. The energy strategy of the European Energy Community indicates continued reliance on coal and nuclear energy which could happen with EU support and financing.
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Environmentalists, get your keyboards ready: The European Investment Bank asks for inputs on its energy policy
Blog entry | 11 October, 2012With annually more than ten billion euros of investments in the energy sector, the EIB can have a tremendous influence on our energy future. If we want the bank to help us “get it right”, the time for providing inputs is now.
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How the facts got in the way of a good EBRD Roma headline
Publication | 8 October, 2012This summer’s ‘silly season’ featured a a blog post on the EBRD website replete with the claim that the bank has helped turn Serbia into a “role model for social inclusion of Roma”. This claim immediately rang hollow in light of the ongoing plethora of abuses of Roma rights in Serbia.
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Egypt’s turmoil is a distraction from the west’s economic agenda
Publication | 8 October, 2012The storming of the US embassy in Cairo has diverted attention once again from the real issues facing Egypt. It couldn’t have come at a better time for those who want to convince the Egyptian people to accept an International Monetary Fund loan and other western IFI interventions, and thus extend former president Hosni Mubarak’s liberalisation of the economy.
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Hoyer and out: New EIB president muddles through European parliament hearing
Publication | 8 October, 2012With the European Investment Bank having recently postponed the annual face-to-face dialogue with NGOs that the bank’s former president Philippe Maystadt initiated in autumn 2011, it was good to see new EIB president Werner Hoyer being put on the spot in September by MEPs during a hearing at the Europeam parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.
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More questions asked about EBRD and EIB transparency
Publication | 8 October, 2012The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have been awarded some of the worst transparency scores for international finance institutions in this year’s Aid Transparency Index, published in early October by the campaign group Publish What You Fund.
Read moreEuropean public banks must improve transparency
Press release | 1 October, 2012Brussels – The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) score low on transparency according to the ‘2012 Aid Transparency Index’ [1] published today by the campaign group ‘Publish What You Fund’.
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