Croatian civil society groups ask new government to withdraw from Ombla hydro project

Croatian environmental groups today held a protest action outside of the Croatian parliament calling on the country's new government not to go ahead with the controversial EBRD-financed EUR 150 million Ombla HPP project.

Holding a giant pay-in slip with the EBRD named as the recipient, the groups aimed to highlight the folly of taking on new massive public debt for an environmentally destructive project whose economic viability is questionable at a time when Croatia is suffering from economic crisis and external debt at 100 percent of GDP .

The majority of the Ombla project is due to be financed through a syndicated loan of which EU 80 million is to be provided by the EBRD, with the remaining EUR 43.2 million from commercial banks. The loan was approved in November and hastily signed just days before Croatia's 4 December parliamentary election. However disbursement is conditional on a biodiversity assessment being carried out so the project cannot start yet.

Images of the action are available online here