Publications

While St. Petersburgs road maintenance budget as a reaction to the economic crisis has been cut by 75%, federal and city officials are determined to realise the Western High Speed Diameter (WHSD), despite more than quadruplet production costs since 2006. But apart from the u…

While the planning process of the solid waste management project for the Autonomous Republic of Adjara is well advanced (first draft of EIA report in December 2008, public consultation meeting in February 2009), the Association Green Alternative has found several problematic…

In September 2008 the EBRD issued a USD 30 million loan for the Kiev City Traffic Management project which involves the planned construction of a major tunnel under the river Dnipro. Despite rising costs of now about USD 1.0 billion, no justification has been provided as to…

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 a…

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…

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 l…

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 repo…

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 th…

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 Assessmen…

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 articul…

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 i…

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…