Ukraine Reconstruction Campaigner
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Anna is Bankwatch’s Ukraine Reconstruction Campaigner, working on green reconstruction and environmental safeguards in Ukraine’s recovery. Her work focuses on alternative sources of energy for communities, energy resilience, and the alignment of Ukraine’s energy policy and public investment management system with EU standards. Originally from Kyiv, she holds an MSc in Environmental Sciences and Policy from Central European University and is based in Bratislava.
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Zagreb, May 28 – Croatian electricity company HEP and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have cancelled a EUR 123 million loan contract for the controversial Ombla underground hydropower plant near Dubrovnik, HEP has announced yesterday. The EBRD financing would have covered the biggest bulk of the EUR 152.4 million estimated to be needed for construction.
The letter brings the resettlement and expropriation issues that are connected to the Kolubara lignite mine to the attention of the EU’s representation in Serbia. Enclosed were recent letters to the EBRD and the Serbian finance minister (pdf) as well as a guardian article that illustrates the urgency of these problems.
Concerns about the proposed EBRD loan to Kuwait Energy
May 27, 2013 | Read more
This analysis looks to the proposed loan of the EBRD to Kuwait energy, scheduled for approval on 29 May. Primary findings are that: The EBRD failed to properly identify the beneficiary of the loan, or the country where it is incorporated (the tax haven Jersey). The fossil fuel nature of Kuwait Energy’s drilling will fail to improve development or social justice in Egypt. While the EBRD claims to prioritise renewable energy, the reality shows a commitment to further oil & gas extraction, one of the few sectors that can easily attract capital.
On Wednesday 29 May the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) will vote on whether to make a $40 million loan to Kuwait Energy to drill and extract oil in Egypt. Egyptian and international organisations are pushing the board of the public multilateral bank to reject the loan – or at least postpone its decision.
Just as Bankwatch published a new infographic juxtaposing the European Investment Bank’s beneficial and harmful energy lending, Europe’s political leaders have set a priority for energy investments to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and focus on clean energy instead.
