Publications

Since Georgias independence in the early 1990s, due to financial constraints maintenance and repair works at most of the water utilities have been neglected. In order to improve the situation in the water sector, several Georgian city councils have approached the EBRD for financing. While some of the aims of the projects should be welcomed, the decision-making processes, implementation of the projects and the lack of public consultation has caused concerns about the outcomes of the projects.

In May 2007 the LUKOIL Company signed a USD 300 million loan contract with the EBRD and other multilateral banks to finance an environmental security scheme of the LUKOIL group subsidiaries. The borrowed funds were supposed to be used for implementing environmental projects by a number of company divisions including LUKOIL Komi LLC. The loan is believed to help decrease the volume of associated gas, reduce water consumption and pollutant content in sewage, arrange waste management and reconstruct industrial pipelines.

The Western High Speed Diameter (WHSD) is a 46 kilometre toll motorway, part of the IX Pan-European Transport Corridor linking St. Petersburg with Scandinavia. The road has been presented as a strategic investment priority for St. Petersburg by the Russian authorities and international financiers as it is going to be the first public-private partnership in Russia as well as the first toll road in Russia. Yet there are serious doubts that the WHSD will make St. Petersburg a better place.

Dear Mr Popov

Chelopech Mining project - phase 2

Thank you for your letter of 2 May, 2008 in which you share with us your concerns about Chelopech Mining Project (copy attached for reference).

In this issue: Bottom line additionality in Kazakhstan as more miners die * Campaign successes amidst the Black Weeks * New map of projects points the way to environmental and social justice in CEE * Feeding the Asian Tigers: Lack of environmental teeth in ADB’s energy strategy * Counter Balance: Challenging the European Investment Bank * European Parliament looks for more added value from the EIB * Energy Matters: new Bankwatch report and film explore big industry developments in Albania * Going nuclear: the EIB's waiting game continues * EBRD crackdown on “open markets” in Ukraine * They’ll