Publications

Last month, residents in the village of Krupets in Ukraine blocked the Kyiv-Chop road that runs straight through the village. Their protest – the road was blocked off for more than 90 minutes – came as a result of horrifying car accidents (including ten fatal car accidents s…

Although public authorities appear increasingly to be turning their backs on public-private partnerships (PPPs) for delivery of services and the provision of infrastructure, the beleaguered investment vehicle continues to be aggressively promoted by the European Commission a…

Sir Suma Chakrabarti became the sixth president of the EBRD this summer. Bankwatch Mail caught up with him recently to ask him his views on the bank’s operations in central and eastern Europe and, now, further afield, as well as on a few of the more acute issues that are cur…

A USD 3.7 billion PPP oil refinery expansion in Cairo is accompanied by contradictory project documents, making a mockery of claims by the public banks involved to be committed to ‘good governance’ or democracy. Despite being presented as merely translations of one document,…

On November 30, the same day as the national government was under fire in the most heated protests Slovenia has seen in years, Slovenia’s ministers of finance and infrastructure added fuel to the flames by signing contracts with Simon Tot, director of the Sostanj lignite pow…

While it is not to be unexpected for the public to attempt to scrutinise the effective performance of governmental agencies, in recent years in Kazakhstan it has been far from obvious that many resources and services, projects and finances are being provided by international…

Europe’s neighbouring countries, from the Western Balkans to Ukraine, are intent on pursuing unsustainable energy futures that rely heavily on coal and nuclear. The draft energy strategy of the European Energy Community, recently open for public comments, is no big departure…

After long delays and more than three years in the making, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) finally in early November published its new mining sector policy. Yet both the consultation process and the final outcome have left “consulted stakeholders”…

The EBRD’s board of directors is set to decide on December 12 whether or not to extend further significant financing to Canadian gold mining firm Dundee Precious Metals (DPM). This time the EBRD may invest up to USD 45 million in a ‘five-year revolving corporate debt facilit…

The economic crisis has accelerated the development of new financial instruments for the next EU budget period in 2014-2020. The main intention behind these instruments is to deliver substantial levels of new investment money from increasingly limited public resources in ord…

The potentially EBRD supported Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold mine in southern Mongolia project poses significant adverse social and environmental impacts. This in-dept review – based on our own research as well as that of expert reviewers – shows that the Environmental and Social I…

Bankwatch’s Better Ideas competition invited ideas for projects could be financed by EU funds and that best contribute to the sustainable development in people’s communities. These are the winning projects in each of the participating countries.