Letter to EBRD President Thomas Mirow requesting public withdrawal from the Moscow - St.Petersburg motorway project routed through Khimki forest

While the EBRD has repeatedly expressed its concerns about the project development process for this project, it has so far refrained from making any final decisions on whether to finance the road or not. We believe the time has now come for the bank to clearly and publicly withdraw from the project.

After several months of speculation and uncertainty about the final routing of the Moscow St. Petersburg motorway, it was finally announced this week that the Russian authorities have decided to stick with the original routing of the motorway through Khimki Forest. According to an independent opinion poll this route is opposed by 67 percent of Muscovites. It is also a route whose proponents have not hesitated to use brutal attacks on activists and journalists to get their way.

While the EBRD has repeatedly expressed its concerns about the project development process for this project, it has so far refrained from making any final decisions on whether to finance the road or not. We believe the time has now come for the bank to clearly and publicly withdraw from the project.