Letter to EIB regarding Gazela resettlement process
Publication | 27 May, 2009In this letter CEKOR requests the EIB to send a delegation for a meeting with representatives of the Roma community from Gazela, interested Roma and non-Roma CSOs and representatives of the Roma national council and to thus establish consultative and sustainable process of the resettlement. On June 17, 2009 we have received a response from EIB, which can be downloaded as pdf here.
Read moreHigh voltage power lines, Ukraine – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
Publication | 20 May, 2009In April 2009 the National Energy Company of Ukraine Ukrenergo announced plans to construct two new high voltage transmission lines with hoped for financial support from the EBRD. A closer look at the background details reveals information that neither the project sponsor nor the EBRD provided. Based on them, it seems that in close cooperation with Ukrenergo the EBRD will rather improve Ukraine’s capacity to export electricity from its nuclear blocks under the smokescreen of serving the local needs.
Read moreReview of lessons from completed PPP projects financed by the EIB
Publication | 20 May, 2009This report reviews the European Investment Bank’s public-private partnership (PPP) projects to inform and help shape the bank’s lending policies and practices. The research has been commissioned by the European Investment Bank but is not available on the EIB’s website. The report describes the EIB PPP portfolio, presents the outcomes of interviews with EIB staff involved in PPP operations. The report draws interesting conclusions about the PPP project selection, risk sharing and transparency.
Read moreWestern High Speed Diameter: Time to look for feasible alternatives – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
Publication | 16 May, 2009While St. Petersburgs road maintenance budget as a reaction to the economic crisis has been cut by 75%, federal and city officials are determined to realise the Western High Speed Diameter (WHSD), despite more than quadruplet production costs since 2006. But apart from the unjustified routing of the diameter through residential and important natural areas, it is also still unclear whether there are cheaper and more effective alternatives.
Read moreCorridor Vc motorway, Bosnia-Herzegovina – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
Publication | 16 May, 2009In 2008 the EBRD signed a loan for EUR 180 million for several sections of the planned 330 km long Corridor Vc motorway in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Communities living along the route are concerned about the expected negative effects on or even the destruction of valuable arable land. Furthermore another problem lies in the motorways routing through or nearby tentative UNESCO World Heritage sites, two planned national parks and other ecologically valuable terrain.
Read morePorto Romano thermo power plant, Albania – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
Publication | 16 May, 2009The Porto Romano TPP is yet another project that aims to improve energy security in Albania, yet the construction of such a large TPP powered by imported coal can hardly be reckoned to constitute sustainable development. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that coal-fired TPP plants are widely recognised as the most climate-wrecking forms of electricity generation, the governing elite in Albania is determined to have one in its own backyard.
Read moreThe progress of the Gazela slum resettlement project, Belgrade, Serbia – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
Publication | 16 May, 2009The Gazela Bridge in Belgrade, Serbia is in urgent need of renovation. Three hundred families, predominantly Roma, who live in informal settlements under the Bridge are to be resettled. So far the resettlement process lacks proper planning and open public consultation with affected communities and Roma experts. And also the EBRDs involvement as a technical assistant has not led to the establishment of the institutional, financial and legal solutions that are necessary to effectively promote Roma inclusion.
Read moreD1 Motorway, Slovakia – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
Publication | 15 May, 2009The D1 motorway is one of the key priorities of the Slovak government and in line for EBRD and EIB support. The government as repeatedly declared its intention to finish the project by 2010, but the currently planned route was not subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment and represents a serious impact on the NATURA 2000 network. Apart from the disregard of EIA recommendations which favoured a variant that bypasses almost all important natural habitats, several crucial questions have to be asked at the EBRD London AGM on May 15-16.
Read moreNabucco: a short sighted answer to the energy security challenge – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
Publication | 15 May, 2009Both EBRD and EIB consider support for the construction of the Nabucco gas pipeline. But proponents of the project successfully avoid several important issues. Among them are the human rights records of the potential partners Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, both ranked among the most authoritarian regimes in the world.
Read moreBubbling under the surface: The role of western public finance in the crisis hitting central and eastern Europe
Publication | 14 May, 2009The financial and economic crisis unravelling across the world economy has fundamentally changed economic policy imperatives for states and international financial institutions, including those operating at the European level. This situation offers the opportunity to articulate policies favourable to progressive social and environmental aims as integral parts of effective and transformative plans for economic recovery. While todays policy makers are unlikely to be moved by such arguments at this point, broader layers of social actors engaged in debates about the crisis most definitely will. This report seeks to provide guidance for their mobilisation by considering the context, formulation and delivery of crisis response policies by the EC, the EIB and the EBRD in relation to the CEE economies.
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