Campaign against Vinci’s participation in Moscow St. Petersburg motorway project launched
Blog entry | 30 March, 2011While much of the debate around the Moscow St. Petersburg motorway project has centred around the behaviour of the Russian authorities, the Movement to Defend Khimki Forest is now targeting French construction giant Vinci and asking the company not to sign an additional agreement with the Russian authorities, expected in mid-April.
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Don’t turn Ukraine into a nuclear energy source for the European Union!
Blog entry | 29 March, 2011Bankwatch member group National Ecological Centre of Ukraine is asking the European Investment Bank (EIB) on inaugurating its Kiev office March 25 not to support nuclear development in Ukraine .
Read moreVinci’s failure to respect Global Compact commitments on human rights and the environment in Khimki
Publication | 28 March, 2011The letter to representatives of the UN Global Compact gives details on the failure to respect commitments under the Global Compact initiative by the construction company Vinci in connection with the Moscow St. Petersburg motorway project (near Khimki).
Read moreComments to the EC’s plans to increase EIB operations and commence ERBD operations in North Africa
Publication | 23 March, 2011The European Commission’s announced plans to give the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction leading roles in promoting democratisation and development in the Southern Mediterranean region. Counter Balance and Bankwatch are concerned that both institutions first need to demonstrate their ability to bring environmentally sustainable and socially positive development impacts. We also call for an immediate investigation into the EIB financing to the Mediterranean so far, to examine whether corrupted elites have benefited from the bank’s loans.
Read moreNGOs call for investigation into EIB financing for the Mediterranean region
Press release | 23 March, 2011Counter Balance and CEE Bankwatch Network are calling for an investigation into the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) financing in the Southern Mediterranean region in the past, before giving the bank a leading role in distributing European financial support for the region.
Read moreEU public funds for “securing” dirty coal and nuclear energy Ukraine transmission lines background paper
Publication | 15 March, 2011Over the past few years, a series of strategies, agreements and loans have brought the EU and Ukraine into closer cooperation on perpetuating nuclear and carbon-intensive energy infrastructure and generation, with international financial institutions (IFIs) brokering the deals.
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Khimki defender Evgenia Chirikova is a woman of courage, literally now
Blog entry | 11 March, 2011Evgenia Chirikova, the leading figure of the Movement to Defend Khimki Forest has yesterday received the US Woman of Courage Award to honour her relentless efforts to save the Khimki Forest near Moscow from being transformed into a motorway.
Read moreKeep European public banks out of Mediterranean region, say NGOs
Press release | 9 March, 2011This week, EU leaders are meeting to agree on a common response to events in the Mediterranean. A coalition of Western and Eastern European NGOs issues a serious warning that the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are not the right institutions to financially support the transition in the Middle East and North Africa.
Read moreBankwatch contribution to the public consultation process regarding the external dimension of the EU energy policy
Publication | 7 March, 2011The European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) strategy paper 2007-2013 for the eastern neighbourhood region involves contradictory strategic objectives. The first of these is sustainable development and environmental protection, which underpins all EU legislation and policies. However, the second priority, the need to ensure the diversification and security of energy supplies to the EU, emphasises the need for further extraction and transportation of the Caspian Seas oil and gas resources to Europe, and thus prioritises it over the development of an environmentally friendly energy sector within the region.
Read moreComplaint regarding the EIB loan to Sostanj lignite power plant TES6
Publication | 28 February, 2011The complaint, filed with the European Investment Bank by Focus Association for Sustainable Development (SI) calls on the bank to withdraw its approval for the project. The complaint addresses the following aspects: premature disbursement of funds failure to assess the project’s compatibility with the 2050 climate targets misleading claims that TEŠ 6 is only a replacement and not an expansion missing clear governmental support to the project
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