Blogs

A $3.7 billion PPP oil refinery expansion in Cairo is accompanied by contradictory project documents, making a mockery of claims by the public banks involved to be committed to “good governance” or democracy. Despite being presented as merely translations of one document, the Arabic and English “versions” are entirely different – with the Arabic markedly cursory and superficial.

Although public-private partnerships appear to become increasingly untenable for public authorities, they are further being promoted by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank. An official in-depth evaluation of this financing model, however, is still nowhere to be seen.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development boasts of having invested 10 billion euros in sustainable energy since 2006. A closer look reveals that although the bank's efforts deserve recognition, several investments make a mockery of 'sustainability'.

November is shaping up to be crunch time for a new 600 MW lignite plant planned to be built at Sostanj in Slovenia. If the Slovenian government doesn’t manage to offer a state guarantee for loans from European public banks that should cover half the construction costs by the end of this month, the project could fail. At Bankwatch, we’re preparing our popcorn for the latest Sostanj thriller, on show across Europe this month.

After long delays and more than 3 years of preparation the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has finally completed and published a policy for its operations in the mining sector. Both the consultation process and the final outcome must leave “the consulted stakeholders” disappointed.

With a key EU summit one month away, how do things currently stand with the tortuous, plate tectonic-esque EU budget 2014-2020 negotiations?

A closer look at Ukraine's energy strategy reveals fundamental flaws in the government's plans to continue using old nuclear reactors and its rhetoric of nuclear being the only possible alternative.

The Polish government has a sad reputation for adopting unilateral, even obscure approaches when it comes to our country’s energy policy. What now came as a very disappointing surprise is that the Polish parliament joined the opportunistic chorus of denial - one that considers alternatives to the continued reliance on fossil fuels as a threat to Poland’s security.

European spending is often considered unnecessary, beaurocratic, and even damaging. We're the last ones to deny that in Bankwatch.

Yet, we are convinced that EU spending - if it is done right - can truly serve the public interest by creating jobs, reducing energy bills, minimizing air pollution, etc.

Our new video highlights how some European projects are showing the way to a greener Europe and a better world.

With annually more than ten billion euros of investments in the energy sector, the EIB can have a tremendous influence on our energy future. If we want the bank to help us “get it right”, the time for providing inputs is now.