Publications

After the EIB and the EBRD disbursed a promised 650 million euros for Slovenian lignite plant TES 6 on March 8, Focus Slovenia, CEE Bankwatch Network and 96 other NGOs sent this letter to the two banks calling on them to never commit to such a misguided loan again. The letter includes a list of reasons why Sostanj was undeserving of public loans and a set of measures that need to be taken by the banks immediately in order to avoid such mistakes from being repeated in the future.

Linked to a slew of controversies, the Kolubara lignite mining project in Serbia is in line for support from European public banks. Corruption allegations, pollution at local level, irregularities in resettlement of local populations and not to forget a climate damaging approach to energy investments should be reason enough to find alternative options.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is expected to take a decision this month on whether or not to provide a EUR 300 million loan for a nuclear power plant Safety Upgrade Programme (SUP) in Ukraine. Bankwatch and other environment groups are questioning the logic of the proposed SUP as it will result in some of Ukraine’s old nuclear units continuing to operate for another 20 years.

The renovation of buildings to high energy performance standards has the potential to be the most cost effective investment any European nation can make, given the benefits in terms of job creation, quality of life, economic stimulus and energy security that such investments deliver. For these reasons the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) is advocating for the maximum possible allocation of EU funds to the energy renovation of buildings under the recently agreed multi-annual financial framework (MFF) for 2014-2020.

"Please be advised that, in this particular transaction, the EBRD and Monsanto were unable to find a satisfactory project structure for financing. Each institution will continue to explore other opportunities in order to provide farmers and distributors with adequate and time-appropriate financing, which we recognize to be one of the key challenges to increase agricultural productivity in the Bank’s region of operations."

Kosovo has just celebrated the fifth anniversary of independence. In these five years, Kosovo has achieved membership of certain international financial institutions (IFIs): having already joined the IMF and the World Bank, on December 17 last year Kosovo became the 66th member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Yet what can Kosovo’s citizens expect from EBRD membership?