Ukraine’s zombie reactors at the Development Day in Slovakia
October 15, 2015
On October 14, the World Development Information Day, Bankwatch and our partners People in Peril joined an event in Bratislava of the Slovak Platform of development NGOs with stories, pictures and international cuisine. Students, journalists and politicians watched our photo-exhibition “Nuclear Ukraine”. We explained how “development can go wrong” and why the Ukraine’s ageing nuclear reactors require public engagement of citizens in the region. See images from the event below.
Public action: Mourning the demise of Czech responsibility for climate action
October 12, 2015
Video and pictures from a public action agains lifting the coal mining limits in the Czech Republic that so far have saved towns from being resettled.
Ukrajinské reaktory. Tak ďaleko a pritom tak blízko
September 30, 2015
Ukrajina chce predĺžiť životnosť jadrových reaktorov, slovenská vláda chce vedieť viac, ale Kyjev napriek záväzkom mlčí. Ukrajina práve rozhoduje o nebezpečnom projekte. Hlasy domácich kritikov sa snaží umlčať a susedné vlády, vrátane tej našej, ignoruje. Bezpečnostný garant a financmajster veľkej časti projektu, Európska komisia, žiaľ, vysiela nejasné signály.
Ucraina “ar putea încălca tratate nucleare europene”
September 30, 2015
Asociaţia Bankwatch Romania şi guvernul ţării noastre atrag atenţia că Ucraina desfăşoară programe nucleare asupra cărora planează suspiciunea că încalcă tratatele internaţionale.
Environmental organizations raise stink over MHP’s poultry farm
September 22, 2015
There’s an ill wind blowing in Vinnytsa Oblast, and if one of Ukraine’s biggest agriculture companies keeps growing, things could get worse for the people living nearby, environmental, corporate and bank watchdog organizations from the European Union and Ukraine say. MyronivskyHliboproduct (MHP), which runs the biggest poultry farm in Europe near the village of Ladyzhyn southeast of Vinnytsa, was the subject of two reports released this September after a fact-finding mission of six environmental watchdogs visited the area in May.
Images and graphs: Large-scale agribusiness in Ukraine and local communities
September 14, 2015
Ukraine’s agriculture was the only sector in the country to grow in 2014. International investors are happy to point this out – and the role they are playing in financing these investments. Our investigation, however, shows that cheap Ukrainian food products are coming at the expense of severe impacts on local communities.
Rural communities in Ukraine bearing the brunt of unchecked agribusiness expansion, say two new reports
September 14, 2015
Residents in Ukraine’s southwest are facing environmental decline, intimidation and deteriorating quality of life as a result of the rapid emergence of Europe’s largest poultry farm, finds a report released today by CEE Bankwatch Network. Owned by Mironivski Hliboproduct (MHP), Ukraine’s biggest poultry producer, the Vinnytsia project has been enjoying hefty support from Europe’s public financial institutes and the World Bank, and plans to double the facility’s size are only likely to exacerbate its social and environmental impacts, shows another report released today by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO).
Black earth – Agribusiness in Ukraine and the marginalisation of rural communities
September 14, 2015
Given Ukraine’s abundant land resources and food production potential, modernisation of agriculture is necessary and industrialisation is inevitable. Yet, an investigation into the Vinnytsia poultry complex shows the negative side effects of large-scale industrialisation of meat production and sounds the alarm about the risks that agroholdings pose to communities.
Nederland sponsort Oekraïense plofkip
September 14, 2015
De grootste kippenproducent in Oekraïne, Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP), slacht jaarlijks naar schatting 332 miljoen kippen en staat op het punt de productie met 70% te verhogen. MHP krijgt daarbij ruim baan van de Oekraïense overheid, exporteert tegen gunstige voorwaarden naar Nederland en profiteert bovendien van een half miljard aan leningen van internationale ontwikkelingsbanken. Bij de schaalvergroting spelen ook Nederlandse banken en bedrijven een rol. Intussen ondervinden de bewoners in de omgeving van Europa’s grootste kippenstal steeds meer overlast van stank en zwaar verkeer en worden zij onder druk gezet om hun land te verpachten. Met het rapport Chicken Run heeft SOMO de bedrijfsstrategieën van MHP en de daaruit voortvloeiende impact op omliggende dorpen in kaart gebracht.
Slovakia and the Energy Union: Financing for fossil fuels
September 10, 2015
Similar to what we have seen in other countries, when it comes to concrete projects in Slovakia the Energy Union proposals are so far to a much larger extent aiming at security of (gas) supply than they are at decarbonisation.
