Rushed loan approval for Tuzla 7 coal plant, but project far from ready
November 28, 2017
The China Exim bank and Bosnian power utility Elektroprivreda BIH yesterday signed a massive loan agreement for the Tuzla 7 lignite power plant – a project that would have dire health, economic and climate repercussions.
Déjà vu in biodiversity: public banks pitted against international wildlife convention
November 15, 2017
Europe’s wildlife guardian has sent a warning to Georgia over changes to a protected area in the Caucasus mountains. International lenders are interested in financing hydro developments in the region.
Good project – bad implementation: MHP biogas
November 2, 2017
The project MHP Biogas is currently under consideration for approval by the EBRD Board of Directors. The project covers the construction of the greenfield 10 MW biogas plant in Vinnitsa region of Ukraine. The biogas plant is sought to help solve the pr
The great gas lock-in – industry lobbying is behind the EU push for new gas infrastructure
October 31, 2017
A new report from Corporate Europe Observatory shows why the fire-power of the gas industry makes it a powerful and effective lobbying force in Brussels and national capitals. Meanwhile, public interest groups have a fraction of the resources and access.
Green Climate Fund’s preference for big players weakens transparency
October 31, 2017
The 18th meeting of the Green Climate Fund in the beginning of October confirmed again that big institutions are getting the biggest share of finances. This time it was the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development who left its mark.
Major European loan to controversial Azerbaijani gas pipeline risks fuelling corruption, human rights abuse and climate change
October 18, 2017
A USD 500 million loan approved today by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the construction of the Trans Anatolian Pipeline is set to benefit, among others, state-owned companies in Azerbaijan and Turkey.
MHP: ‘Business as usual’ while communities suffer
September 29, 2017
The massive loans by public banks for Ukraine’s monopolist poultry producer MHP have not brought the company’s performance and culture in line with the relevant EU and EBRD standards. Rural communities say that if it continues with ‘business as usual’, they face more violence and suppression.
Fossil fuel subsidies by European public banks are underwriting climate change
September 28, 2017
European public banks who have repeatedly voiced their commitment to tackling the climate crisis and ‘greening’ their investment portfolios continue to dole out cash for fossil fuels extraction, distribution and consumption.
Ukrainian civil society resists efforts to be co-opted by big agro
September 20, 2017
The controversial Ukrainian agribusiness giant Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) tries to handle community relations by putting publicity spin on the outcomes of a long overdue discussion with civil society.
Georgia’s highlanders against hydropower
September 20, 2017
As the Georgian government moves ahead with its plans for increasing the country’s hydropower capacity, local communities are being sidelined in the process of compensation payments.
