EU neighbourhood

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.

The project involves the construction of a new section between Ohrid and Pestani on the A3 express ‘Kosel’ to the Albanian border crossing at Ljubanishta. The new 12.5 kilometre section is at a higher elevation than the existing coastal road and towns and will pass through the Galicica National Park. This projects is part of a sovereign guaranteed loan of up to EUR 160 million.

The Georgian Ministry of Environment has commissioned an external review of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of the Nenskra hydropower plant before issuing its ecological expertise opinion which is a prerequisite for a construction permit. This review indicates that the ESIA report for Nenskra fails to sufficiently define the area of influence, suggest project alternatives, assess the impacts on the local communities and evaluate the costs and benefits of the project for the Georgian society.

The EBRD has denied its role in enabling Ukraine’s ageing units to operate beyond their design lifetime. It has also claimed that through the loan it has important leverage over its client Energoatom to help ensure a proper level of nuclear safety and the compliance with Ukraine’s international commitments in the nuclear energy sector. However, developments in January-May 2015 show the EBRD has been over-optimistic about the role and leverage it has gotten by granting the loan for the safety upgrade project.

In 2013 Winstar Tunisia, a subsidiary of Serinus Energy, obtained a USD 60 million loan from the EBRD to develop four oil and gas fields in southern Tunisia. In March 2015, Bankwatch met with local authorities, civil society representatives and labour unions in the two southern provinces and identified a number of problematic aspects, most notably the lack of transparency and communication from the side of the company with local stakeholders.

Following earlier publications about the Boskov Most project’s irreversible impact on nature, this paper provides an overview of the most recent developments concerning the planned HPPs in the Mavrovo national park.

Since 2011 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has provided USD 210.5 million to three greenfield hydropower projects (HPP) in Georgia - Paravani, Dariali and Shuakhevi. Instead of bringing improvements on the ground and environmental standards that are on par with best international practice, the EBRD has, by funding these projects, simply justified the wrongdoings that were from the beginning apparent: the degradation of river ecosystems, corruption and threats to people.