Home >> Category >> Region >> Balkans

Balkans

Zagreb Mayor arrested - and not before time

a

Something quite amazing happened yesterday evening in Zagreb. The Croatian police and the State Prosecutor announced that several people had been arrested on suspicion of a number of criminal corruption offences, abuse of office and peddling influence. Among the arrested were Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic, Head of Zagreb Holding municipal company Slobodan Ljubicic, the head of the ZET public transport company Ivan Tolic, head and part-owner of the CIOS metal recycling company Petar Pripuza and around 15 more un-named people.


The Boskov Most hydropower plant, Macedonia

The Boskov Most hydropower plant includes an accumulation dam 33 metres in height and a power plant with a total capacity of 68MW, Around 80 per cent of the project falls within the territory of the Mavrovo national park, the largest and richest national park in Macedonia. Three years after the signing of a loan agreement over EUR 65 million from the EBRD, little progress has been made with the project. This briefing details several reasons why the project should not receive support from the EBRD.

[Campaign update] Rovinari power plant put on ice

a

A silver lining has appeared for the people of Rovinari with the set-up of a joint venture for a new lignite-fired power plant being put on hold. The town of Rovinari already suffers under heavy pollution from the existing plant.


Slovenia coal fraud charges serve as warning for other Balkan countries, say NGOs

Ljubljana, Slovenia: Slovenian police yesterday reported that ten people had been charged with fraud in relation to the beleaguered Sostanj 6 lignite power plant project, causing a suspected EUR 284 million in financial harm to Slovene electricity consumers. The charges serve as a new warning to decision-makers across the Western Balkans to closely scrutinise coal power plant projects planned across the region if the mistakes made in the Sostanj 6 project in Slovenia are not to be repeated, warned several NGOs today.

Pljevlja II lignite power plant, Montenegro


a

The existing Pljevlja thermal power plant in the north of Montenegro, near the border with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been operating since the early 1980s. Now the Montenegro government is proposing a second 254 MW lignite-fired unit at the site.

Tuzla 7 lignite power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina


a

The 450 MW Tuzla 7 project would result in additional coal capacity compared to the current situation. The city already suffers from significant air pollution due to the existing power plant and several other industrial facilities. The project would be implemented by the China Gezhouba Group Co. and is slated for financing from the China ExIm Bank.

Banovici lignite power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The 350 MW Banovići coal power plant project is being developed alongside the existing Banovići mine just a few kilometres away from Tuzla by the predominantly state-owned RMU Banovići (Banovići Brown Coal Mines). The power plant would be a greenfield facility and a cement plant is also planned nearby. This project is in direct competition with the Tuzla 7 lignite power plant.

Ugljevik III lignite power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina


a

Ugljevik III near Bijeljina in the Republika Srpska part of Bosnia and Herzegovina is planned to consist of 2x300 MW units which would take lignite from the open cast mines at Delici, Peljave-Tobut, Baljak and part of Ugljevik-Istok. An existing unit of 300 MW at the site, operating since 1985, sits alongside the half-built Ugljevik II whose construction was never finished, and which is now the subject of a long-running dispute with Slovenia.

Stanari lignite power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina


a

EFT’s 300 MW Stanari power plant, constructed by China's Dongfang, and financed by the China Development Bank, is located near Doboj in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Republika Srpska part of the country. Originally it was planned to be a 420 MW plant but this was considered to be on the edge of economic viability and the capacity was reduced to 300 MW.

Syndicate content