May 24, 2016 | Read more Protests against large dams in Georgia’s Svaneti mountains have led to confrontations with police. Locals are losing patience over the protracted consultation process on the project.
May 24, 2016 | Read more After months of protests and the people in Runcurel, a small town in Romania that is to be swallowed by a lignite mine, have finally received positive news from the Romanian government. During a meeting with Bankwatch Romania and Greenpeace Romania, the Minister for Energy Vlad Grigorescu confirmed that the government will do more to protect locals and their houses. Read more background in our photo story
May 24, 2016 | Read more A graffiti in Warsaw marks the upcoming birthday of imprisoned Azeri journalist Khadija Ismayilova.
May 23, 2016 | Read more The European Investment Bank (EIB) must adopt new directives and operating principles to play a meaningful role in realising the EU’s goal of a decarbonised and resource efficient economy, say CEE Bankwatch Network and Counter Balance ahead of the bank’s annual meeting during the EU finance ministers’ Council this Wednesday, May 25.
May 18, 2016 | Read more Three decades after Chernobyl, nuclear power remains a mainstay of Ukrainian energy supply. Despite persistent safety problems, the Ukrainian government has approved lifetime extensions for four of its 15 nuclear units since 2010, and two more could be greenlighted later this year. What is more, Ukraine’s nuclear sector survives in part thanks to European support. The EU needs to stop supporting Kiev’s risky nuclear energy programme.
May 16, 2016 | Read more With an ownership structure heavily influenced by Azerbaijan, the European Commission’s flagship energy project may end up being a costly piece of infrastructure that does not increase Europe’s energy security but offers a tool for political leverage to the authoritarian Aliyev regime.
May 10, 2016 | Read more A complaint filed last week is requesting an investigation into alleged corruption involving French company Vinci in the construction of a controversial motorway through Khimki Forest near Moscow. The complaint was filed to Nanterre’s chief investigating judge by civil society groups Sherpa and CEE Bankwatch Network, activists Evgenia Tchirikova and Mikhail Matveev, and with the support of Princip, defenders of the Khimki forest.
May 4, 2016 | Read more In spite of an updated construction contract for a new unit at the Tuzla coal-fired power plant, the project’s economic feasibility remains a puzzle with missing pieces.
April 28, 2016 | Read more In its annual resolution on the European Investment Bank adopted today in Brussels, Members of the European Parliament have criticised the bank’s support to projects under corruption investigations. They also called on the EIB to go further on fighting climate change, tax evasion and tax dodging. Counter Balance and CEE Bankwatch Network welcome the positions taken today by the Parliament in this resolution.
April 26, 2016 | Read more The EU’s carbon market rules allow Central and Eastern European Member States to invest up to €12 billion in coal powered energy production. As representatives of the EU Member States are due to discuss the EU ETS this Wednesday, the new publication “Fossil fuel subsidies from Europe’s carbon market” adds momentum to the need to overhaul this policy.
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