Although public authorities appear increasingly to be turning their backs on public-private partnerships (PPPs) for delivery of services and the provision of infrastructure, the beleaguered investment vehicle continues to be aggressively promoted by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB). An official in-depth evaluation of this financing model, however, remains long overdue.

Sir Suma Chakrabarti became the sixth president of the EBRD this summer. Bankwatch Mail caught up with him recently to ask him his views on the bank’s operations in central and eastern Europe and, now, further afield, as well as on a few of the more acute issues that are currently high on the agenda – both for the EBRD and watchdog organisations like Bankwatch.

A USD 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.

On November 30, the same day as the national government was under fire in the most heated protests Slovenia has seen in years, Slovenia's ministers of finance and infrastructure added fuel to the flames by signing contracts with Simon Tot, director of the Sostanj lignite power plant for the controversial EUR 1.3 billion Sostanj Unit 6. These contracts prepare the ground for the signing of a state guarantee contract for a EUR 440 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the project.

While it is not to be unexpected for the public to attempt to scrutinise the effective performance of governmental agencies, in recent years in Kazakhstan it has been far from obvious that many resources and services, projects and finances are being provided by international financial institutions (IFIs). Indeed, very often it is the IFIs that act as catalysts for various government programs, reforms and ideas that are subsequently adapted via the bureaucratic apparatus to Kazakhstan’s reality.

Europe’s neighbouring countries, from the Western Balkans to Ukraine, are intent on pursuing unsustainable energy futures that rely heavily on coal and nuclear. The draft energy strategy of the European Energy Community, recently open for public comments, is no big departure from the national plans, as Bankwatch found out when compiling comments to the draft – and, moreover, this reliance on coal and nuclear energy could end up receiving EU support and financing.

After long delays and more than three years in the making, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) finally in early November published its new mining sector policy. Yet both the consultation process and the final outcome have left “consulted stakeholders” disappointed.

The EBRD’s board of directors is set to decide on December 12 whether or not to extend further significant financing to Canadian gold mining firm Dundee Precious Metals (DPM). This time the EBRD may invest up to USD 45 million in a ‘five-year revolving corporate debt facility’ to DPM valued at USD 150 million.

The economic crisis has accelerated the development of new financial instruments for the next EU budget period in 2014-2020. The main intention behind these instruments is to deliver substantial levels of new investment money from increasingly limited public resources in order to plot a path towards Europe’s economic recovery.

The potentially EBRD supported Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold mine in southern Mongolia project poses significant adverse social and environmental impacts. This in-dept review - based on our own research as well as that of expert reviewers - shows that the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is a non-starter and deeply flawed. The study is complemented by detailed expert analyses in five annexes.