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EU nuclear grab looms large in Ukraine

Bankwatch Mail | 14 May, 2012 | Download PDF

Earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukraine’s president Victor Yanukovych met Thomas Mirow, the EBRD president, with Yanukovych deeming the ongoing cooperation between Ukraine and the bank to be “excellent”. Other than this being a diplomatic pleasantry, when it comes to energy infrastructure projects Ukraine certainly appears to have done very well out of the EBRD: since 2005 the EBRD has committed more than half a billion euros for these projects in Ukraine, in particular for the upgrade and construction of high-voltage transmission lines. Yet the experience for all concerned – including local communities – has been far from excellent, and concerns are mounting that further grid expansion plans could be storing up yet more problems.


Revolution at the EBRD required for any new role in Egypt

Bankwatch Mail | 14 May, 2012 | Download PDF

The figures should be well known. Somehow, though, in the western world, and especially in official quarters, they tend to get overlooked in the rush to impose the ‘next latest thing’ on post-revolution Egypt. The country’s seven percent GDP growth figure in 2007, hailed by the World Bank and others, concealed a multitude of injustices. For one thing, average per capita GDP growth plummeted from 4.1 per cent prior to 1990 to 2.7 per cent during the neoliberal era set in motion by the IMF structural adjustment regime in 1991.


EBRD approach to PPPs continues to perplex

Bankwatch Mail | 14 May, 2012 | Download PDF

After a long gestation period the EBRD’s new draft Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure (MEI) policy finally appeared in April, bringing some good news such as the bank’s commitment to start monitoring some on the ground project impacts and sustainability rather than just market-related transition impacts.


Clean energy expansion in eastern Europe requires a pro-active EIB

Bankwatch Mail | 14 May, 2012 | Download PDF

The European Union has embarked upon an ambitious voyage to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95 percent by 2050. To achieve this goal, a deep transformation of the economy is needed. Such a shift requires significant investments into energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources, but it also means that decisions and infrastructure investments that would lock up our societies in carbon intensive consumption and production patterns need to be avoided.


Health and safety on the line in ArcelorMittal’s Kazakh operations

Bankwatch Mail | 14 May, 2012 | Download PDF

The EBRD’s development of a new Mining Strategy saw the publication last month of a draft that will now be consulted on. Among the passages in the draft to catch the eye are “Multi-national firms act as demonstrators of best (or at least better) practices in those EBRD countries of operations where EHS&S (Environmental, health, safety and social) legislation is lacking”, and that “investments by major international mining operators in local mining sites in the EBRD’s countries of operations have often led to rapid and significant improvements in the safety of workers, due to safety standards that generally exceed the most stringent local health and safety requirements”.


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