Letter to EIB President Maystadt requesting the bank’s withdrawal from the Moscow – St.Petersburg motorway project routed through Khimki forest

Advocacy letter    |    17 December 2010

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While the EIB has repeatedly assured of its efforts to improve the project’s planning and public consultation process, recent developments show that these efforts have not been successful. We believe the time has now come for the bank to clearly and publicly withdraw from the project.

After several months of speculation and uncertainty about the final routing of the Moscow St. Petersburg motorway, it was finally announced this week that the Russian authorities have decided to stick with the original routing of the motorway through Khimki Forest. According to an independent opinion poll this route is opposed by 67 percent of Muscovites. It is also a route whose proponents have not hesitated to use brutal attacks on activists and journalists to get their way.

While the EIB has repeatedly assured of its efforts to improve the project’s planning and public consultation process, the recent developments show that these efforts have not been successful. We believe the time has now come for the bank to clearly and publicly withdraw from the project.