Public consultations short-circuited for major Ukrainian power project, EBRD urged to stand up for communities and the environment
Press release | 13 October, 2009A major power transmission project in Ukraine that seeks a EUR 175 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to facilitate the export of electricity from Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant across protected nature sites in the south of Ukraine is violating the EBRD’s procedures on public consultations, according to Bankwatch member group National Ecological Centre of Ukraine (NECU).
Read moreArcelorMittal continues to pollute and uproot peoples lives
Press release | 12 May, 2009ArcelorMittal needs to move beyond good intentions on environmental and social improvements and turn words into deeds. Despite its rhetoric on social responsibility, the company continues to destroy the environment, risk peoples lives and displace local communities, according to a new report launched today by the Global Action on ArcelorMittal coalition to coincide with the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Luxembourg.
Read moreFirst tranche of EIB car “crisis” loans requires scrutiny, warn Bankwatch and Greenpeace
Press release | 12 March, 2009The European Investment Bank (EIB) has today extended EUR 3 billion in soft loans to eight European carmakers for the development and production of cleaner vehicles. CEE Bankwatch Network and Greenpeace call on the EIB to ensure that money goes to initiatives with a true impact on cutting carbon emissions from cars and not just to small-scale greenwash projects.
Read moreLocal resistance to nightmare Albanian energy development scenario remains defiant, protestors demand a referendum
Press release | 1 November, 20083000 citizens from the city of Vlora in Albania held a large protest rally this weekend at the coastal site that has been designated as the construction site for an oil and gas terminal and a thermo power plant. The protestors called on national institutions to respect their right to a local referendum on the constructions. They also urged the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) not to provide finance for projects that do not respect local public rights to participate in decision making and that will have strong negative impacts in the very sensitive area of Vlora Bay. [1]
Read moreEBRD says NO to Vlora hydrocarbons terminal
Blog entry | 21 July, 2008The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is no longer considering financing for a controversial hydrocarbons terminal in Vlora, Albania.
Read moreThree activists released pending trial for protesting against controversial oil terminal construction in Vlora
Press release | 14 April, 2008The district court in Vlora, Albania last week released three members of the Civic Alliance for the Protection of Vlora Bay [1] who were arrested and detained for two weeks after protesting against the construction of a hydrocarbons terminal in Vlora. The terminal, regarded by the protestors as bringing few benefits to the local economy in exchange for high environmental risks, is being built by the Italian investor La Petrolifera Italo Rumena. The project is currently seeking a EUR 15 million credit from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Read moreVlora citizens demand a referendum and a yachting harbour instead of an oil terminal and pipeline
Blog entry | 11 March, 2008The Civic Alliance for the Protection of the Vlora Bay, a local Albanian initiative group, continued on Sunday to press for a referendum on an oil deposit and a thermo-power plant being constructed north of the town of Vlora on Albania’s Adriatic coast.
Read moreEU funds for fifty harmful projects: NGOs announce ‘RegioScars’ – the three most ill-conceived projects in CEE countries
Press release | 25 February, 2008A new map with details of 50 environmentally damaging and economically dubious infrastructure projects in Central and Eastern Europe was launched by CEE Bankwatch Network and Friends of the Earth Europe in Brussels today [1]. Based on the most extensive investigation to date, the map entitled ‘Cohesion or Collision?’ shows controversial projects with a total cost of EUR 22 billion. The projects are either already financed, or planned to be financed, by EU structural and cohesion funds and/or the European Investment Bank (EIB) [2].
Read moreVlora demonstrators tell World Bank delegation to pull out of disputed power plant
Blog entry | 22 January, 2008Close to 3000 residents of Vlora, an Albanian city on the Adriatic coast, greeted the visit of representatives of the World Banks Inspection Panel with a clear plea – end World Bank credits for the EUR 110m thermal power plant that is part of a huge energy park development threatening the sensitive Vlora bay.
Read moreVlora citizens’ road blockade stops construction work on energy projects for eighth day
Blog entry | 31 December, 2007The Civic Alliance for Protection of the Vlora Bay together with the Vlora Student Movement is now in the eighth day of protesting against construction of the Vlora thermo-power plant and a hydrocarbons terminal on a beach on the outskirts of the Albanian city located on the Adriatic coast. On December 25 a group of 30 people blocked the access road to the construction sites thus preventing further progress on both sites. Four days later, 10 protesters were arrested, including Eneid Hamzaj, the leader of the Vlora Student Movement.
Read more