The progress of the Gazela slum resettlement project, Belgrade, Serbia – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
May 16, 2009
The Gazela Bridge in Belgrade, Serbia is in urgent need of renovation. Three hundred families, predominantly Roma, who live in informal settlements under the Bridge are to be resettled. So far the resettlement process lacks proper planning and open public consultation with affected communities and Roma experts. And also the EBRDs involvement as a technical assistant has not led to the establishment of the institutional, financial and legal solutions that are necessary to effectively promote Roma inclusion.
Porto Romano thermo power plant, Albania – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
May 16, 2009
The Porto Romano TPP is yet another project that aims to improve energy security in Albania, yet the construction of such a large TPP powered by imported coal can hardly be reckoned to constitute sustainable development. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that coal-fired TPP plants are widely recognised as the most climate-wrecking forms of electricity generation, the governing elite in Albania is determined to have one in its own backyard.
Corridor Vc motorway, Bosnia-Herzegovina – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
May 16, 2009
In 2008 the EBRD signed a loan for EUR 180 million for several sections of the planned 330 km long Corridor Vc motorway in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Communities living along the route are concerned about the expected negative effects on or even the destruction of valuable arable land. Furthermore another problem lies in the motorways routing through or nearby tentative UNESCO World Heritage sites, two planned national parks and other ecologically valuable terrain.
Chelopech gold and copper mine Bulgaria – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
May 15, 2009
After visiting Chelopech TMF in October 2008, members of the Petition Committee of the European Parliament report an ‘immediate threat to public health, water, soil and agricultural production, and the climate conditions in the region’ posed by the Mining project. Their report recommends further investigations by EC and Bulgarian Government and calls for implementation of EU environmental law and basic rights and principles.
Nabucco: a short sighted answer to the energy security challenge – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
May 15, 2009
Both EBRD and EIB consider support for the construction of the Nabucco gas pipeline. But proponents of the project successfully avoid several important issues. Among them are the human rights records of the potential partners Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, both ranked among the most authoritarian regimes in the world.
D1 Motorway, Slovakia – EBRD AGM Issue Paper
May 15, 2009
The D1 motorway is one of the key priorities of the Slovak government and in line for EBRD and EIB support. The government as repeatedly declared its intention to finish the project by 2010, but the currently planned route was not subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment and represents a serious impact on the NATURA 2000 network. Apart from the disregard of EIA recommendations which favoured a variant that bypasses almost all important natural habitats, several crucial questions have to be asked at the EBRD London AGM on May 15-16.
Bubbling under the surface: The role of western public finance in the crisis hitting central and eastern Europe
May 14, 2009
The financial and economic crisis unravelling across the world economy has fundamentally changed economic policy imperatives for states and international financial institutions, including those operating at the European level. This situation offers the opportunity to articulate policies favourable to progressive social and environmental aims as integral parts of effective and transformative plans for economic recovery. While todays policy makers are unlikely to be moved by such arguments at this point, broader layers of social actors engaged in debates about the crisis most definitely will. This report seeks to provide guidance for their mobilisation by considering the context, formulation and delivery of crisis response policies by the EC, the EIB and the EBRD in relation to the CEE economies.
Bankwatch Mail 40
May 14, 2009
In this issue: Nabucco spells energy securitisation not security * Crisis puts the EBRD back in the same old business * EBRD complaint mechanism gets a personality * EBRD drawing more power lines in Ukraine’s unsustainable energy sands * An end to energy efficiency excuses in Ukraine * Flagship PPP road project to be built with state money * ArcelorMittal – Going nowhere slowly * Hopeless in Gazela * New Gazela documentary * More dirty energy development for Albania * Smoke on Georgian water privatisation * Faster, smarter but more destructive crisis money for CEE?
ArcelorMittal: Going nowhere slowly. A review of the global steel giant’s environmental and social impacts in 2008-2009.
May 12, 2009
This new report reviews the company’s environmental and social impacts during the years 2008-2009 since the coalition Global Action on ArcelorMittal published its first report on the company in May 2008. The new report includes case studies from Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, India, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Romania and South Africa.
Letter to President Barroso regarding accelerated EU funding for controversial projects in CEE countries
May 11, 2009