Money for nothing: Ugljevik III coal concession must be cancelled, not bought off
June 7, 2019
After years of speculation about the Ugljevik III coal power project in Bosnia-Herzegovina, this week’s news is that the government wants to buy off Comsar Energy’s concession. Yet if the company hasn’t fulfilled the conditions from the contract, why should it be rewarded?
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Environmental permit for Buk Bijela hydropower plant cancelled
May 30, 2019
The Banja Luka District Court has cancelled the environmental permit for the planned 93 MW Buk Bijela hydropower plant on the river Drina in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Aarhus Resource Center in Sarajevo has announced today, following the court’s positive 13 May ruling on the Center’s complaint.
Six years later, a criminal investigation into illegal environment permits finally begins in Romania
September 13, 2018
In 2012, almost one hundred permits were issued to Oltenia Energy Complex (OEC), allowing the company to cut down hectares of forest to make way for coal mines. The permits were issued illegally, however, as Bankwatch Romania proved in court over the past six years. After many lawsuits and complaints to the relevant authorities, a sign of progress came this summer when the Romanian Ministry for Environment informed criminal investigation bodies about this situation.
Two Court Complaints Against BiH’s Hydropower Permits
July 27, 2018
The Aarhus Resource Centre Sarajevo has submitted two court complaints to the District Court in Banja Luka against the environmental permits for the Buk Bijela and Foča hydropower plants (HPPs) on the river Drina in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) near th
[Campaign update] Environmentalists take planned Montenegrin coal plant to court
May 16, 2017
Green Home, a Montenegrin environmental non-governmental organisation, on Friday submitted a complaint to the Administrative Court of Montenegro requesting the cancellation of the environmental approval for the controversial Pljevlja II coal power plant the government seeks to build.
Forests sitting on lignite saved in Romania
August 14, 2014
Bankwatch and Greenpeace won a court case* in Romania this week, which will effectively prevent 59 hectares (the equivalent of 118 football pitches) of forest from being destroyed by the expansion of one of the open-pit coal mines that supplies Rovinari, one of the largest coal plants in Romania.