Financial trouble of Ukraine’s nuclear operator calls Europe’s financial support into question
June 6, 2016
Energoatom is currently unable to serve loans from European institutions. Even though a European Commission study assessed the company’s credit worthiness, Ukrainian taxpayers now have to pay back part of the loans.
Time for Europe to stop supporting Ukraine’s risky nuclear power sector
May 18, 2016
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.
The problems with industrial chicken producer MHP’s expansion in Ukraine
May 11, 2016
MHP is at the centre of concern for local communities and civil society organisations in Ukraine, because of the way the company engages stakeholders, acquires land, and impacts the environment, water and the local economic development. Since 2010 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved three loans for MHP, totalling USD 205 million. Whether or not the company is in compliance with Ukrainian law, local people think they are not adequately protected and do not have an equal voice against a large corporation if it decides to begin construction.
NGOs file a complaint against Vinci Russia for corruption of foreign public officials in Khimki Forest motorway case
May 10, 2016
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.
Постепенно въглищата ще останат в историята като енергоносител
May 5, 2016
Генади Кондарев, енергиен експерт към Bankwatch, в предаването Бизнес старт 58% от домакинствата в България се отопляват на твърдо гориво, а останали близо 40% се отопляват с електроенергия. Това каза Генади Кондарев, енергиен експерт към Bankwatch, в предаването „Бизнес старт“ по Bloomberg TV Bulgaria.
EU’s flagship climate instrument used to subsidise coal in Central and Eastern Europe
April 26, 2016
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.
For European public finance, where will all roads lead from Paris?
April 22, 2016
Signing the Paris Agreement is an important step in Europe’s contribution to the global effort to tackle the climate crisis. But funding this commitment necessarily passes through the public coffers. To kick-start the much-needed energy transition– by swiftly cutting emissions to reach the global carbon neutrality the Paris Agreement prescribes for the second half of this century –a change of paradigm in public investments in energy infrastructure is needed.
Chernobyl nuclear disaster marks 30-year anniversary with ‘extreme tours’, boom in wild animals
April 12, 2016
Thirty years after the world’s most catastrophic nuclear accident, the abandoned Ukrainian town of Pripyat, home to the infamous Chernobyl nuclear reactor number four, has been transformed. From the ashes of the site has emerged a $US200 per person “extreme tourism” theme park. Each week more than 1,000 tourists are taken through security and radiation checkpoints, before being allowed to walk through the abandoned buildings, including the swimming pool complex, kindergarten and police station.
Lost in transition – 25 years of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
April 11, 2016
This report examines a selection of cases monitored by CEE Bankwatch Network and its partners in recent years and highlights some of the weaknesses observed in the EBRD’s approach to environmental, social, democracy and development issues. On 15 April 2016 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will mark its 25th anniversary. This opportunity should kick-start a debate about what the London-based public bank has achieved since it started operations in 1991 and to reflect on its future.
Ukraine needs European values and Europe’s solidarity
April 4, 2016
Ahead of a referendum in the Netherlands on the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine, Olexi Pasyuk from the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine discusses the agreement’s importance for Ukraine’s civil society and why Europe must still improve how it engages with the country.