Sport for Rights to EBRD: No public money for Lukoil and mega gas project in Azerbaijan
July 20, 2015
On Wednesday 22 July the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will decide whether it will arrange a loan of up to $ 500 million to Russia’s Lukoil for the Shah Deniz II offshore gas project in Azerbaijan. Together with the campaigners of Sport for Rights and sixteen other NGOs, Bankwatch has written a letter to the EBRD’s president and its directors. We urge them to reject the project because Azerbaijan fails the EBRD’s basic requirements which include human rights, multi-party democracy, rule of law and pluralism.
Azeri regime stifles criticism ahead of European Games. European lender must finally take measures.
June 10, 2015
UPDATE 1 12h CET 12 June 2015 Platform have taken to the streets of London to protest the opening of the European Games. See a video of the action below, and read more in their book published Friday, All that glitters, which explores how the European Games belong to the Aliyev regime and the British oil company BP and how sport is being co-opted in the service of a dynasty and fossil fuels. ––––
Europe’s Caspian gas dreams – a nightmare come true for human rights in Azerbaijan
May 14, 2015
As investors and officials are promoting a gas pipeline project from the Caspian Sea to Italy, the systematic repression of human rights in Azerbaijan is hardly on the official agenda. The Aliyev regime’s weakly veiled attempts to muzzle dissent illustrate how even the most repressive governments are acceptable partners for Europe’s pet energy projects.
Repression and carbon lock-in required for security and sustainability?
May 14, 2015
With construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) in Turkey getting under way, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) consortium awarding contracts for the construction of access infrastructure in Albania, and Russian pipeline plans lagging behind, the Southern Corridor for Azerbaijan’s gas exports to Europe is increasingly looking like a done deal. Or at least that is what the project promoters would have us believe.
Jailing of prominent human rights activists in Azerbaijan casts a shadow over Europe’s planned gas deals with the Aliyev regime
April 24, 2015
London, Prague — Azerbaijan’s authoritarian regime has been intensifying its crackdown on civil society with the recent jailing of two leading human rights defenders. The Aliyev regime has gained much of its political and financial clout by siphoning off proceedings from the country’s vast oil and gas reserves. These are the same reserves that the EU is now planning to make its next big source of gas, and the same government that the EU still considers a legitimate partner.
Energy security for Europe or profit for Lukoil?
December 4, 2014
Despite the Russian invasion in Ukraine leading to EU and US sanctions against Moscow and major Russian energy companies, public banks supported by EU countries are just gearing up to offer a one billion dollar loan to Russian company Lukoil for gas extraction in Azerbaijan.
