Whether in Europe or beyond, public money must not become an auxiliary for human rights violations or the marginalisation of affected communities.
We expose cases where development banks fail to protect those impacted by their projects.
We advocate for participation and consultation processes that are not pro-forma exercises, but a tool to ensure people’s well-being.
We run a helpdesk where activists and communities can get advice on how to challenge controversial projects being considered for funding by development banks.
Close to frontline communities
We’re in direct contact with affected communities and provide updates from their struggles.
Image (c) Rosa Vroom
IN FOCUS
The Reconstruction of Ukraine
The scale of destruction caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has been staggering. To repair the damage, joint efforts to coordinate donations and properly plan Ukraine’s reconstruction must start as soon as possible.
A successful reconstruction of Ukraine cannot happen without involvement of the Ukrainian people. That’s why we’re calling on international donors to ensure that the financial structures to help impacted communities are put in place and that civil society groups have a say in this process.
We believe that Ukraine and the international community have a unique opportunity to modernise the country while addressing people’s needs and long-term sustainability.
Amulsar gold mine, Armenia
The controversial Amulsar gold mine near the touristic spa town of Jermuk was supported by the EBRD equity investments, but blocked by locals after the velvet revolution in 2018. In spite of a number of legal threats and intimidation by the company, the blockade continued till the eruption of military conflict overNagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) at the end of 2020.
Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP), Ukraine
The leading Ukrainian agribusiness giant has been enjoying generous support in public funds and national subsidies. With over half a billion euros from the EBRD, EIB and the IFC, Myronivsky Hliboproduct PJSC (MHP) has grown into a near monopolist in poultry production. While MHP’s vertically integrated model has contributed to its status as a leading Ukrainian agribusiness, the scale and nature of its business have also contributed to mounting concerns about its social and environmental impacts. These concerns are compounded by patterns of poor community consultation and a lack of information provided about MHP’s operations, leaving project-affected people guessing about the true impacts of its operations.
Corridor Vc motorway, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Bosnian section of the international Corridor Vc is planned to run for 330 km through Bosnia and Herzegovina. Concerns about environmental impacts and threats to cultural heritage were raised by local people and cultural figures. The public discussions about the project have led to a series of scandals and a deadlock of the motorway’s development.
More of our projects
Georgia’s East–West and North–South road projects: Counting the true costs of highway expansion
The East–West Highway and the North–South Corridor – two key road infrastructure projects supported by major multilateral development banks, have had devastating social, environmental and cultural impacts in Georgia.
Indorama Agro: Uzbekistan’s infamous cotton producer
Despite being Uzbekistan’s largest cotton producer and receiving millions in development loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – institutions that promote modernisation and corporate responsibility – Indorama Agro faces multiple complaints of worker mistreatment and retaliation.
Zarafshan, Bash and Dzhankeldy wind projects, Uzbekistan
The first large wind projects in the Central Asian country are being built in biodiversity hotspots and hinder the declaration of protected areas. The IFC, EBRD and ADB need to ensure that some of the most problematic turbines are moved away.
Latest news
30 Years After the Chernobyl Disaster, a Nuclear Menace Still Hides in Plain Sight
Bankwatch in the media | 25 April, 2016CHERNOBYL, Ukraine — It was a fine spring night, people peacefully sleeping as weekday passed into weekend, until Chernobyl’s fourth nuclear reactor blew up. Oleksandr Galuh recalls that night well. “My mother woke up as the windows shattered,” Galuh, then a fourth-grader in Pripyat, a town not too far from Chernobyl, remembers. “She thought it was a thunderstorm.”
Read moreDecades after Chernobyl, Ukraine hooked on nuclear more than ever
Bankwatch in the media | 25 April, 2016It’s the result of war, politics and economics. Three decades after the world’s worst nuclear accident, the home of the shuttered Chernobyl power plant remains more reliant than ever on nuclear power. When a botched test in the early hours of April 26, 1986, blew apart the reactor’s core and spewed huge amounts of radiation into the atmosphere, nuclear power accounted for about a quarter of the energy mix of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Today, nuclear power produces more than half of Ukraine’s energy — the result of war, politics and economics.
Read more 30 Years After the Chernobyl Meltdown, Why Is the Ukrainian Government Pushing Nuclear Energy?
Bankwatch in the media | 25 April, 2016Or, how Ukraine learned to stop worrying and love its nuclear power plants. Later this year, the largest movable structure on earth—essentially a colossal steel tomb shaped like an oversized airplane hangar—is scheduled to begin its slow journey along a rail system, traveling at a glacial pace of 33 feet an hour. Its destination: the crumbling ruins of Chernobyl’s reactor number four, which, 30 years after the worst nuclear meltdown in history, continues to ooze radiation like a wound that refuses to heal.
Read moreRelated publications
Vinnytsia Poultry Farm: Agri-oligarchy and its impacts in Ukraine
Briefing | 25 June, 2026 | Download PDFThis briefing showcases the vast and sprawling Vinnytsia Poultry Farm and its impact on the lives of local villagers ever since construction began in 2010.
The Social Climate Fund and the ‘do no significant harm’ principle: Lessons for Ukraine’s public investment management system
Report | 24 June, 2026 | Download PDFThis briefing examines how Ukraine can strengthen the environmental safeguards in its public investment system by learning from the EU’s Social Climate Fund (SCF). It finds that Ukraine names the ‘do no significant harm’ principle in its public investm
Briefing to the EIB Board on Rogun Hydropower Project in Tajikistan
Briefing | 12 June, 2026 | Download PDFThe Rogun Hydropower Project in Tajikistan raises serious concerns regarding freshwater ecosystems, the resettlement of 60,000 people, regional water security and human rights within the context of severely restricted civic space. As the European Investment Bank (EIB) is appraising the project, civil society groups are calling on the EIB’s Board of Directors to ensure compliance with the Bank’s Environmental and Social Standards and relevant EU standards.
