A clear and present danger – How financial institutions and authorities have failed to address the human impacts of resettlement in Serbia’s lignite mining fields
September 25, 2015
This study shows how the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has failed to enforce several of its basic principles on involuntary resettlement in the Kolubara Mining Basin, one of the largest sources of lignite in Europe, where mining has continued for over fifty years.
Eighty hectares of forest still standing in the lignite county of Gorj, court rules
May 20, 2015
Bucharest – Another environmental permit for the deforestation of 80 hectares of forest has been cancelled by a Bucharest court, following a Bankwatch Romania petition. The decision curtails plans to expand a lignite quarry in the Gorj county.
EBRD digs in deeper with Serbian coal king
May 14, 2015
Earlier this year, Serbian media reported that the EBRD was considering providing a new EUR 200 million loan for the financial restructuring of the state-owned electric utility power company of Serbia, EPS. The EBRD Director for Serbia, Mateo Patrone, was quoted by B92.net saying that the loan is aimed at helping the financial restructuring of EPS. Meanwhile, the EBRD’s country strategy for Serbia, approved by its board of directors last April, highlights the bank’s “key role in promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy” for the country.
Unpaid coal bill: Romanian coal exports to Serbia marred by corruption
April 21, 2015
A dodgy deal to export coal from Romania to Serbia has left the Romanian state-owned coal supplier with a potential seven million euros write-off.
Victories piling up: 130 more hectares of forest saved from lignite mining in Romania
March 12, 2015
Bucharest – A Romanian court has accepted a petition filed by Bankwatch Romania and Greenpeace Romania, and cancelled the environmental permit which allowed cutting down 130 hectares of forests – equivalent to approximately 260 football pitches – to make way for the expansion of the Pinoasa lignite open pit.
Guest post: Pljevlja shareholder A2A must resist pressure to build new lignite unit in Montenegro
February 11, 2015
Montenegro’s government is pushing hard for the construction of a new unit at the Pljevlja lignite-fired power plant. NGOs are encouraging the major shareholder company to not give in to this pressure, writes Jelena Marojević Galić from Green Home.
New arrests should dampen Serbia’s appetite for coal
February 4, 2015
Corruption cases continue to haunt Serbia’s coal sector as a new round of arrests last week has shown. They also illustrate how the dependence on coal creates vulnerabilities for Serbia’s energy sector and potentially its financiers, in particular in the aftermath of last year’s floods.
UPDATE 7: Juncker on the investment offensive … against Europeans, the economy and the environment
January 22, 2015
Labelled the €1.3 trillion investment offensive, more than 2000 projects have been identified by the European Commission’s new Task Force on Investment (made up of representatives of the EC, EIB and member states) for fast-tracked financing from President Juncker’s recently announced €315 billion stimulus plan.
[Campaign update] KOSID contests the opening process of the tender for the ‘New Kosovo’ Power Plant
December 23, 2014
A press-realease issued by KOSID on December 21.
Complaint against Bosnia and Herzegovina for failure to comply with Energy Community law
December 16, 2014
In the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, approximately 150 km east of Banja Luka, Comsar Energy Republika Srpska (CERS) is planning to build the 2×300 MW Ugljevik 3 lignite fired power plant. This complaint outlines aspects of the Energy Community law that the plant would breach if constructed.
