ARCHIVED: Southern Gas Corridor
June 30, 2017
This system of mega-pipelines meant to bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, is unnecessary for Europe’s declining gas demand. But the billions in public investments will boost Azerbaijan’s dictatorial regime and cause upheaval for transit communities in Turkey, Greece, Albania and Italy.
ARCHIVED: Nenskra hydropower plant, Georgia
June 22, 2017
The Nenskra dam is the largest of Georgia’s massive plans for hydropower installations in the Upper Svaneti region. If realized, it will deprive the local indigenous communities of their ancestral lands and traditional livelihoods, and cause an irreversible damage to the fragile river and mountain ecosystems.
European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)
June 19, 2017
Tasked with stimulating the European economy, the new investment fund may just become an extention of the European Investment Bank’s normal lending with very limited additional (green) finance.
Volkswagen’s emissions scandal and the EU’s bank
June 18, 2017
With the spotlight bright on Volkswagen for cheating in emission tests, the EU’s house bank must now come forward and show exactly what it has done to ensure proper oversight over its loans to the company.
ARCHIVED: Mombasa-Mariakani road project, Kenya
June 6, 2017
Locals affected by the road project are facing forceful eviction and have not been properly consulted or compensated. The project promoter reacts to criticism with intimidation.
ARCHIVED: Olkaria geothermal development, Kenya
April 12, 2017
Financed by several development banks, geothermal installations have uprooted Maasai communities whose fundamental rights as an indigenous people have been ignored at first. The company has so far been slow and reluctant in addressing the Maasai’s complaints.
ARCHIVED: Khudoni hydropower plant, Georgia
April 28, 2015
While a mountain community will have to be forced to resettle for this mega-project, the opaque ownership and weak taxation mean that benefits for Georgia are highly doubtful.
Pljevlja II lignite power plant, Montenegro
October 7, 2014
CANCELLED: For several years the Montenegrin authorities planned a second unit at the Pljevlja lignite-fired power plant in the north of Montenegro, near the borders with Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. An existing plant has been operating there since 1982. In 2019 the authorities finally admitted the second unit would not be built.
Tuzla 7 lignite power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina
October 7, 2014
CANCELLED: The 450 MW Tuzla 7 project has become an iconic example of the clash between Chinese-backed investments and EU standards in the Balkans. The lead contractor was to be the China Gezhouba Group Co. and a financing deal was signed with the China ExIm Bank in November 2017. However, in April 2024, the cancellation of the works contract was reported to have taken place.
Banovici lignite power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina
October 7, 2014
The 350 MW Banovići coal power plant project was planned alongside the existing Banovići mine just a few kilometres away from Tuzla by the predominantly state-owned RMU Banovići (Banovići Brown Coal Mines).
