Publications

In this issue: EBRD own goal on coal will under-mine clean energy ambitions * Croatia: land of sun, sea and contradictory strategies * Sustainable energy mischief in Ukraine * Mining’s winners and losers on show in new film * Hopes and more fears in Central Asia * More sustainable development pipedreams? BTC shows how not to do Nabucco * Post-conflict aid to Georgia: mission accomplished or fait accompli?

Illustrated report on the most significant impacts of the D1 motorway in Slovakia, prepared by Jan Topercer, commissioned by Friends of the Earth-CEPA and CEE Bankwatch Network.

For three years already ArcelorMittal Temirtau (AMT), financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has been implementing the USD 100 million Mittal Steel Temirtau - Coal Mine Modernisation project that was approved by the bank in 2007.

Both the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank approved loans for the D1 motorway Phase I project in Slovakia, which seeks to link the economically wealthier western part of Slovakia with the less developed eastern part. The project is to be financed through a public-private partnership (PPP), which has been the cause of considerable controversy in Slovakia, as has the fact that the planned route impacts protected Natura 2000 areas.

The removal and resettlement of the informal Gazela settlement from beneath the Gazela Bridge on highway Corridor X over the Sava River in Belgrade's downtown took place in August 2009. Despite the involvement of international financial institutions (the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank) and foreign development
agencies (the European Agency for Reconstruction and the UK Department for International Development), the resettlement has not brought satisfactory results.

In December 2005 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved a EUR 25.8 million loan for the Odessa High Voltage Grid Upgrade project for the state-owned company Ukrenergo. The project, that foresaw construction of a 124 kilometre long 330 kV transmission line between the Adjalyk and Usatove substations in the Odessa region and modernisation of the substations, was Ukrenergos first experience with the international financial institutions, and inaugurated a series of further such investments.

On March 9, 2010, a loan for the Tbilisi Railway Bypass Project, initiated by the Georgian Railway company, was approved by the EBRD. The main goal of this project, rated category A by the EBRD, is to construct a new section of railway that bypasses the central part of Tbilisi in order to avoid the transit of hazardous freight (such as oil and oil products) through the middle of the city.

While this main goal is welcomed, there are several strong concerns that undermine the project goals and may cause a serious threat to Tbilisis population.