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Ido Liven
e-mail: ido.liven@bankwatch.org
Tel.: +48 22 892 00 86
skype: ido.bwn

 

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Pinocchio to deliver letters to Kulczyk
May 16, 2014

This Friday, 16th May at 2.00 pm, petitions to Jan Kulczyk, appealing for his withdrawal from plans to build Elektrownia Północ (‘North’) Power Plant in Pomerania, Poland, will be passed on to Mr. Piotr Maciolek, chairman of Elektrownia Północ Power Plant company, owned by Kulczyk Investments Group. The petitions, signed by over 8200 people, will be delivered by an exceptional guest – Pinocchio.

Bankwatch analysis of EBRD operations in CEE at 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall
May 14, 2014

Warsaw – As the EBRD celebrates 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the benefits it has brought to its countries of operation in the post-socialist space, a new Bankwatch report criticises the bank for having systematically promoted a „markets above all” approach, which has often put democratic and environmental concerns on the back burner, and occasionally proved straightforwardly detrimental to the region.

The Bankwatch analysis is available for download here: http://bankwatch.org/EBRD-stuck-in-market

Planned contract for Plomin C coal plant most likely illegal state aid, says legal analysis
May 5, 2014

Zagreb, 05.05.2014 - A planned long-term power purchase agreement in which Croatian electricity company HEP will commit to buying at least 50% of electricity from the planned Plomin C power plant for 20-30 years will most likely be illegal under EU state aid rules, according to a new legal analysis by Hungary's Environmental Management and Law Association (EMLA).

Statement on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and threat of war
April 29, 2014

CEE Bankwatch Network strongly condemns the Russian government's military invasion and annexation of Crimea and Sebastopol. We hope that in the end the voices of those who have been demonstrating for peace in Moscow and elsewhere, in both Russia and Ukraine, will prevail.

The European Union has already responded to the Crimean declaration of independence by announcing travel bans and bank account freezes for 48 individuals from Russia and Ukraine linked to the Crimean breakaway.

Over 40 MEPs from across the political spectrum pledge to stand-up for citizens and democracy against excessive corporate lobbying
April 15, 2014

Today, the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU), AK EUROPA (Brussels office of the Austrian Chamber of Labour) & ÖGB Europabüro (Brussels office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation), together with a broad coalition of civil society organisations from across Europe, are launching their campaign to urge candidates for the upcoming European elections to “stand-up for citizens and democracy against the excessive lobbying influence of banks and big business”.

New Balkan lignite plants may breach EU pollution legislation before they even operate (legal analysis + video)
April 2, 2014

Brussels, April 2 -- A series of at least five new lignite power plants planned in Western Balkan countries which aspire to European Union membership risk violating Energy Community pollution legislation before they even start generating electricity, warns a new legal briefing by EU-based legal organisation Frank Bold, published today.

Proposed EU loan would make Tunisia's debt problems worse, say CSOs
March 28, 2014

- MEPs to vote on new loan in April.
- Tunisia is already paying more to its Western creditors than it receives in loans and grants, and almost all of the new loan would be used for debt repayments.

Civil society groups from Tunisia and Europe are urging the European Parliament to concentrate on debt relief instead of voting through a EUR 300 million loan to Tunisia, arguing that this will only add to the country’s huge existing debt burden.

Failure to keep up with EU climate and energy policies will move South East Europe away from the EU, say NGOs
March 20, 2014

As the EU Council tomorrow debates A framework for climate and energy in the period from 2020 to 2030, proposed by the European Commission, NGOs today called for much stronger environmental and climate commitments in the upcoming revised Treaty of Energy Community, which brings together the Western Balkan countries, Ukraine and Moldova, during a public hearing taking place in the European Parliament.

NGOs respond to EU aid for Ukraine: watch for the devil in the details
March 6, 2014

Prague -- As the European Council on aid to Ukraine concludes today in Brussels NGOs caution that the 11 billion euros put forward by the EU come on terms which will not necessarily foster an independent, self-reliant Ukraine.

European Development Bank: Backward Step on Rights - Draft Policy Would Weaken Protection
March 5, 2014

(London) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) new draft Environment and Social Policy would fail to weed out abusive development projects, seven human rights and bank watchdog organizations said today in a joint statement. The bank’s consultation on the draft policy closes on March 5, 2014. It then has an opportunity to revise the policy before sending it to the bank’s board for approval in the coming months.