September 14, 2016 | Read more Counter Balance launches today a new report that critically analyses a little-known part of the European Investment Bank (EIB)’s operations: its use of private equity funds. The report is available for download at http://www.counter-balance.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/The-dark-side-of-EIB-funds_report.pdf The report presents a number of statistics and facts about recent investment funds financed by the EIB during the period 2011-2015.
September 13, 2016 | Read more How to overcome the stagnation in the Czech renewable energy sector? Ending the government’s crusade against renewable support schemes would be a good starting point, writes Karel Polanecky from Bankwatch’s member group Hnuti Duha, Friends of the Earth Czech Republic.
September 5, 2016 | Read more In a meeting today, the Espoo Convention’s Implementation Committee will again discuss Ukraine’s compliance with the Convention’s rules. A look back at the last months does not suggest a positive outcome.
August 10, 2016 | Read more If fossil fuels’ grip on the Czech Republic’s energy sector remains, as current plans and policies confirm, the country’s support for the Paris Agreement will be nothing but a sham, writes Karel Polanecky from Bankwatch’s Czech member group Hnuti Duha.
August 4, 2016 | Read more What is a perceived source of security for some can cause instability for others’ lives.
August 3, 2016 | Read more Two reports by the Serbian Center for Investigative Journalism take stock of the problems surrounding the planned Kostolac B3 lignite power plant, including a recent court decision that cancelled the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment.
August 1, 2016 | Read more Just as everyone else was going on holiday, on Friday night the Montenegrin parliament approved two decisions laying the ground for the controversial Pljevlja II lignite power plant. But a look at the project documentation released by the government shows that the project’s economics only add up with some giant leaps of faith.
July 26, 2016 | Read more In a letter to the President of the European Investment Bank from July 22, the European Union’s Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has asked the bank to review its governance arrangements to help prevent potential conflicts of interest in the bank’s governing bodies.
July 22, 2016 | Read more For more than 50 years, the lignite mines in Serbia’s Kolubara basin have been expanding, effectively engulfing the few small communities living between them. For local residents, whose homes have quite literally been teetering on the brink of the mines, life has become unbearable. But a recent court ruling might be paving the way to a long overdue reprieve for residents who have been promised to be relocated.
July 12, 2016 | Read more Counter Balance and its partner Bankwatch have launched a new report exploring corruption cases in Romania’s third largest company. The Oltenia Energy Complex (OEC) is a key player in the energy sector in Romania and today operates ten lignite mines and four power plants. Supposed recipient of a EUR 200 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), OEC stands out for a long list of corruption scandals collected in the last decade.
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