More for pigs than people: experience with Danosha’s expansion in Ukraine
May 7, 2014
In 2013 the EBRD approved a loan of EUR 35 million to Danosha, a Ukrainian industrial pig farming company. Categorised as ‘B’ by the bank, the project didn’t require an Environmental Impact Assessment or public participation. Yet experience shows that Danosha’s activities are associated with adverse environmental and social impacts, and the situation has been worsened by the fact that the company does not publish any information about its impacts on the environment, public health and safety at its farms.
10 years since EU accession: less than we hoped for
May 1, 2014
It’s not that easy to pull off a celebratory mood this 1st of May, even though on this date we mark the anniversary of 10 years since most of central and eastern Europe joined the European Union.
Bankwatch Mail 58
April 10, 2014
Содержание Чьи интересы отстаивает Энергетическое сообщество? Договор нуждается в срочном улучшении Договор об Энергетическом сообществе, подписанный при поддержке ЕС в 2005 году и сторонами которого являются страны западной части Балканского полуостро
Recommendation from the European Investment Bank to the European Commission on the subject of a possible EURATOM loan for the Nuclear Safety Upgrade project in Ukraine (censored version)
April 2, 2014
Commissioned by the European Commission, the European Investment Bank assessed the feasibility of a Euratom loan to Ukraine’s state-nuclear energy operator Energoatom. This censored version of the document was made available on request.
UPDATE: Danube dam-busting – Under the radar EU funds grab spotted in Slovakia
March 25, 2014
A highly problematic Danube dam project has found its way into the Slovak Operational Programme for the Cohesion Policy spending in the 2014-2020 period and has become a small scandal in the country.
Bankwatch Mail 58
March 20, 2014
Issue 58 of Bankwatch Mail, published as stakeholders meet in the European Parliament to discuss the future of the ‘Energy Community’. Comprising the countries of the western Balkans, Moldova and Ukraine, the Energy Community aims primarily to extend EU internal energy policy to south east Europe and the Black Sea region. Its modus operandi and achievements are now being evaluated at high level, which – as this issue shows – is undoubtedly necessary given the stunning number of highly questionable coal and lignite fired power plants that are proceeding in various Energy Community members.
UPDATE 2: The devil is in the implementation – Experiences from the partnership principle in central and eastern European practice
March 20, 2014
At the peak of EU funds’ programming, experiences from CEE countries reveal deficiencies in the application of the Code of Conduct and a flawed implementation of the partnership principle. This undermines the credibility of the programming process and leaves benefits of a comprehensive involvement of all stakeholders untapped. The sometimes even entertaining list of partnership shortcomings brings us to the conclusion that a purely voluntary partnership without common standards much too often continues to end up being a purely formal exercise, and that the promotion of best practices alone is not sufficient to ensure quality partnership.
Sochi 2014 – Independent Environmental report
March 18, 2014
This report, prepared by Environmental Watch on North Caucasus (EWNC) gives account of the extensive environmental damage resulting from the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.
European Development Bank: Backward Step on Rights – Draft Policy Would Weaken Protection
March 5, 2014
(London) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) new draft Environment and Social Policy would fail to weed out abusive development projects, seven human rights and bank watchdog organizations said today in a joint statement. The bank’s consultation on the draft policy closes on March 5, 2014. It then has an opportunity to revise the policy before sending it to the bank’s board for approval in the coming months.
Appeal to the EBRD to freeze Ukrainian projects until government allows for a peaceful resolution of the current crisis
February 20, 2014
In light of the recent violence in Ukraine, Bankwatch is asking the EBRD, the largest foreign investor in Ukraine, to refrain from any further cooperation both on new and current projects until the government takes decisive and peaceful steps to end the escalation of the current crisis, ends human rights violations committed by government forces, shows clear commitment to settling the political crisis in a peaceful way and addresses the key concerns of the protests.