Breakthrough for Chernobyl 1-2

Transcription

1 ISSUE 10 October 2007 NGO Relations Team, EBRD This tenth edition of the EBRD-NGO Newsletter covers recent steps forward in the decommissioning of Chernobyl, the graduation of the Czech Republic from the EBRD, recent developments regarding reviews of Environmental and Public Information Policies and many other issues of interest to NGOs, local communities and other stakeholders. Breakthrough for Chernobyl decommissioning efforts CONTENTS Page Breakthrough for Chernobyl 1-2 decommissioning efforts Czech Republic graduates 2 from the EBRD Policy review 3 Board Consultation Visits 4 Project news 4-5 Capacity building 6 Other news 7 Conferences 7 Publications 8 Contacts 8 Chernobyl nuclear power plant The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986 shook the world. The international community and the Ukrainian authorities have been working together to mitigate the consequences of the accident under the Chernobyl shelter implementation plan of Now these efforts have taken a major step forward. On 17 September Chernobyl nuclear power plant signed two important contracts: one with the Novarka consortium to build a new safe confi nement, a steel structure, to seal off the damaged unit 4 and another with Holtec International to complete the spent nuclear fuel storage. Currently unit 4 is protected by a shelter built immediately after the 1986 accident under extremely hazardous conditions and which, despite recent successful stabilisation works, is decaying. The new safe confi nement is an arch-shaped steel construction which will be 260 metres wide, 105 metres high and 150 metres long. It will be constructed on the site and later be slid over unit 4. It is expected to be in place in months and the shelter will then create the conditions for the ultimate dismantling of Chernobyl s unit 4 which still contains 95 percent of its original nuclear inventory. The second contract is equally important. Holtec s assignment is to complete the spent nuclear fuel storage facility for more than twenty thousand spent fuel assemblies generated during the operation of the units 1-3 up to December The design and regulatory approval phase 1

2 will take approximately 18 months and will be followed by delivery and installation of the equipment. The facility is a key element of the overall Chernobyl decommissioning plan and will ensure safe and secure storage of the Chernobyl spent fuel for one hundred years. These two projects are the most visible aspect of the Chernobyl Shelter Implementation Plan (SIP) which contains more than 130 subprojects now estimated to be worth US 1.39 billion. International donors have made signifi cant contributions to finance these projects via donations to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund and the Nuclear Safety Account, which are managed by the EBRD. Together with the government of Ukraine, the Bank also supervises implementation of the projects to ensure effi ciency. More information in English and Russian on the EBRD s role in the Chernobyl SIP can be found on our dedicated web pages: com/new/calendar/chernobyl/index. htm. Prague Czech Republic graduates from the EBRD Simulations of the New Safe Confi nement By agreement between the Czech authorities and the EBRD on 23 October, the EBRD will no longer make new investments in the Czech Republic from the end of The EBRD will continue to work closely with Czech enterprises to foster a growing volume of investment into countries further east, where the EBRD is shifting its focus. This decision to exit as a country for new EBRD investments refl ects the advanced state of transition that has been achieved by the Czech people. It fl ows from the EBRD fi ve-year strategy adopted by shareholders in 2006 which anticipates that all eight countries which joined the European Union in 2004 will graduate by The President of the EBRD, Jean Lemierre, acknowledged the extraordinarily successful journey that the Czech authorities and the Czech people have taken to build a thriving market economy anchored by the democratic institutions that bolster a sustainable, strong economy. The Czech Republic, which will be the first of the countries where the EBRD will stop new investment, will continue to be a shareholder in the EBRD and will remain a country of operations as the EBRD continues to manage its portfolio of investments. The EBRD offi ce in Prague will close in November. Since 1992, the EBRD has committed 1.1 billion to the country, financing 103 projects with a total value of 4.7 billion. The Bank would like to thank Czech non-governmental organisations for their cooperation over the years in the country. We also look forward to continuing dialogue with Czech NGOs that are active in our other countries of operations. 2

3 Policy reviews Environmental Policy The current Environmental Policy was approved by the Board on 29 April 2003 with a requirement of a review by the Board every three years. The review process started in 2006 and the policy revision has been taking place throughout 2007 and early 2008 with the aim of presenting a revised Policy to the Board for consideration prior to the May 2008 Annual Meeting in Kiev. The Bank has undertaken one round of public consultation on the basis of an Issues paper outlining key topics to be considered as part of the process and discussed them during the NGO Programme of the Annual Meeting in Kazan in May As part of this process, Environment and Sustainability Department s staff have also held a number of meetings on specifi c topics with relevant experts and organisations, including other fi nancial institutions, the World Health Organisation, the International Labour Organisation, and Indigenous Peoples representatives. Bank staff are currently working on draft language for the new policy, which is expected to be ready for public discussion in the first quarter of Following release of a draft revised Policy on the EBRD website, currently expected at the end of January 2008, there will be a series of public consultation workshops in late February - early March 2008, currently planned to be held in 6 locations: London, Budapest, Belgrade, Moscow, Tbilisi and Bishkek. Please see a revised and updated consultation and disclosure plan ( enviro/policy/review/scdp.pdf). For more information about the Environmental Policy review, please visit dedicated web pages com/enviro/policy/index.htm or environment@ebrd.com. Public Information Policy The current Public Information Policy (PIP) was approved by the Board on 16 May Since the triennial review of the PIP was held in 2006, the next review of the PIP would normally have taken place in However, the Bank has decided to bring forward the review because of the current EP review and the links between these two important policies. In addition, the review will enable the incorporation in the PIP of the Implementing procedures for handling information requests and the Clarifi cations of confi dentiality which were introduced on 1 January 2007, but remained outside the policy. The EBRD will release a PIP consultations document for public comment in late 2007 and public consultations will proceed in parallel to the EP review. For more information about the PIP, please visit our dedicated web pages at policies/pip/index.htm. 3

4 Board Consultation Visits Russia A delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors travelled to Russia from September and visited Moscow and two Russian regions - Nizhny Novgorod in the central Volga district, as well as Krasnodar and Sochi in southern Russia - and held talks with Federal government and regional authorities, as well as business leaders. Joined by Alexander Orlov, Director of Government Relations, and Renata Gubanova, Head of Portfolio and Administration, the Directors also met the representatives of Russian environmental NGOs Greenpeace and WWF. The discussion focused mainly on recent changes to Russian environmental regulation. NGOs also pointed out that during the EBRD s regional expansion more attention should be paid to preserve ethnic minorities rights and highlighted Project news the importance of the Bank s consultations with NGOs prior to engaging in projects. Mongolia A delegation of EBRD Board Directors visited Mongolia from September during which they held talks with government offi cials, as well as business leaders and other political fi gures. The Directors, together with John Chomel-Doe, the EBRD s Director for Mongolia, also met with representatives of Mongolian NGOs including Open Society Forum, Mongolian Nature and Environment Consortium, Mongolia Nature Protection Coalition, Zorig Foundation/Advancing Democracy and Globe International. The NGOs and EBRD representatives exchanged views on a number of issues, including transparency and Energy efficiency and renewable energy fairness of mining sector deals (particularly the large Oyu Tolgoi and Tavan Tolgoi projects) and pollution deriving from small scale artisan mining, as well as matters related to corruption in the health and education sectors. The NGOs also learnt about the assistance that the EBRD and other IFIs are providing to the Mongolian government in the mining sector development. The next Board Consultations Visit will be to Hungary and Moldova and will take place on Nov CEE region Within the context of the Sustainable Energy Initiative (SEI), which was launched in May 2006, the Bank has recently signed an investment in a pan-regional renewable energy fund. The EBRD has contributed 25 million to the newly-established equity fund EnerCap Power Fund I L.P. which targets investments primarily in renewable energy, but also in energy effi ciency, across central and eastern Europe. The main focus of the fund s investments in renewable energy will be on wind projects. Investments are also expected to be made in biomass, bioethanol and other types of renewable energy generation. Projects in energy effi ciency, which have been the focus of most of the EBRD s previous sustainable energy deals, will mainly target cogeneration, waste-to-energy and carbon reduction investments. The Banks investment will lead to a first round of funding of 75 million with the balance coming from other institutional investors. Bulgaria The Bank has invested in promoting energy effi ciency in Bulgaria with a credit line for energy effi ciency and renewable energy. Also, the EBRD, through the Netherlands Emissions Reduction Co-operation Fund, is purchasing carbon credits from a hydro power project and a renewable energy wastewater treatment projects in the country that will help signifi cantly reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The Bank also extended a loan to the Piraeus Group to support long term energy effi ciency projects in municipalities and SMEs in Bulgaria with grant support provided by the European Commission. Other recent projects EBRD s previous recent investments in renewable energy have included a major syndicated loan to a hydro power complex in Russia and an investment in a renewable energy fund in Armenia. For more information on EE and RE projects please visit our web site: energyef/index.htm 4

5 Transport and municipal and environmental infrastructure Ukraine Kiev municipal transport has recently received a 100 million EBRD longterm fi nancing for major upgrades of metro, bus and trolleybus passenger transport to improve effi ciency and overall quality of local transport. Part of the loan was syndicated to three commercial banks. Technical cooperation funds, provided by the governments of France and Italy, have been used to help local companies to prepare technicalfeasibility studies, develop long-term business plans, conduct financial audits and develop pilot public service contracts between the city and the companies. Such contracts will be instrumental in helping to establish a transparent structure and in fostering the development of new standards for the provision of public transport. Additional technical co-operation advice will be provided to the city on electronic ticketing system. Other recent projects The EBRD has also recently invested in Lithuanian energy group E-Energija s expansion in the region, including in Ukraine, as a means of promoting private sector participation in district heating, improved services, energy effi ciency, affordability and better environmental standards. In Bulgaria, the EBRD has provided additional grant funds as investment incentives for residential energy effi ciency in multi-apartment buildings in Bulgaria, which was supported by donor grant funds available from the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund. For more information on MEI and transport projects please visit our web site: sector/muninfra/index.htm trport/index.htm Microfinance and MSME Ukraine In September, the EBRD provided a US$ 20 million loan to Kharkiv based Megabank. The loan, which is the first signifi cant transaction for the EBRD in Kharkiv, will be used to provide long-term financing to domestic micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSME). This financing is aimed at the smallest of micro and small enterprises (MSE), the average amount of loans provided will be around US$ 10,000. The MSE can access fi nancing from as little as US$ 100 to US$ 250,000. The medium-sized enterprises can access fi nancing up to US$ 750,000. This should provide a signifi cant boost for this important sector of the regional economy. Technical assistance is also provided for Megabank, aimed at the development of the bank s MSME lending activity. The micro component assistance comes from the Ukraine Micro Lending Programme (MLP) and is provided by the Netherlands and the European Union. Further four new partner banks are in the process of preparation for implementation of the micro and small lending products under the framework of the Ukraine MLP. Armenia The EBRD made its first syndicated loan in Armenia with a 12 million credit to ACBA Credit Agricole Bank CJSC targeting the growing financial requirements of local entrepreneurs, especially in rural and remote areas. The EBRD is providing half of the total loan amount, with the remaining 6 million to be syndicated to Citi under the EBRD s A/B loan structure. Furthermore, in late October the EBRD provided a loan of US$ 3 million to Armeconombank for onlending to MSMEs. Romania The EBRD syndicated loan to Banca Transilvania for a total of 15 million 5

6 to help promote private sector growth, especially micro enterprises and start-up businesses, supported by the Romanian government and the European Commission. 5 million was syndicated to Caja Madrid. Technical assistance of up to 300,000 will also be provided, entailing specialist advisory services to increase lending to new entrepreneurs and small businesses. Also, the EBRD granted 2.25 million loan to Express Finance to stimulate growth of MSE in Romania s regions supported by 150,000 in technical assistance by European Commission and Romanian government to expand Express Finance s rural fi nance orientation. Russia EBRD lent 1.26 billion roubles to Rostov-based Center-Invest Bank to support for energy effi ciency projects, mortgages and MSMEs in the South Russia supported by the Capacity building Agri-lending in Georgia The EBRD has recently launched an initiative to support the expansion of agri-lending in Georgia by training local trainers who will subsequently deliver an agri-lending course at the Georgian State Agricultural University (GSAU). This facility is in line with EBRD s initiative to support agrilending through local partner banks and aid the development of the human capital. The initiative is being funded by the EBRD multi-donor Early Transition Countries Fund. Twelve trainers have been fully trained over a period of four months during 2007 which means that GSAU course can be delivered to agricultural students on a regular basis commencing with the new academic year in September Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO). Further Russian banks which benefi ted from MSE finance funding from EBRD were Locko Bank and Uraltransbank. Other recent projects In the past few months, the EBRD made many other investments to support local and regional banks in their lending to MSMEs, including a credit line to Georgia s Basisbank, a leasing company in Russia, Banca Socia in Moldova and Raiffeisen Leasing Romania. Two Azeri banks also received MSME credit lines: Bank Respublika and Bank of Baku. The EBRD also supported the specialist microfinance banks ProCredit Banks in Bulgaria and Serbia and KMB Bank in Russia through participating in capital increases. In addition EBRD committed equity investment in newly established ProCredit Armenia. 2007, and the onset of the peak agricultural lending period. PPP training A week-long training programme on infrastructure public-private partnerships (PPPs) at the Joint Vienna Institute in early October saw EBRD staff share their expertise with over 20 participants from Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, the Slovak Republic and Ukraine. Mostly they were highranking civil servants working in transport or finance ministries, local For more information on SME and microfinance projects please visit our website: small/index.htm You can find all recent project summary documents on our website: psd/index.htm authorities or state-owned motorway companies. The programme focused on PPPs in transport and municipal and environmental infrastructure (water, waste water, urban transport, district heating, solid waste and housing) and aimed to show participants the key issues and trade-offs involved in such deals. The participants were taken through all the phases of the PPP project cycle, from feasibility studies to fi nancial structuring and risk mitigation, while also looking at institutional capacity on nine concrete case studies, including the Sofi a water system, Hungarian motorway projects and Tirana airport. TAM On 22 October the TurnAround Management (TAM) in Serbia started a two-week training programme to improve the marketing and fi nance skills of 100 Serb entrepreneurs in four major cities. 6

7 Other news John Smith Fellowship The 2008 John Smith Fellowship Programme is inviting applications until 6 November from young professionals from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. The Fellowship Programme is an intensive fi ve-week course on good governance, democracy and social justice aimed at supporting the next generation of leaders in countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. The EBRD is one of the programme s supporters and annually hosts several events as part of the programme. The John Smith Trust was established to honour the memory of British politician John Smith, who was Tony Blair s predecessor as leader of the Labour Party and who died suddenly in For more information about how to apply please visit: www. johnsmithmemorialtrust.org/web/ site/programme/program.asp. Conferences Assessing project impact and effectiveness Leading development economists from around the world gathered at the twoday conference in London on 5-6 October to discuss new and cutting-edge methods to better understand how programmes work in areas as diverse as microfinance, property rights, improvements in water supply, or affi rmative action. The conference explored the issues such as how SMEs fi nance their activities in emerging markets and how to build better microfi nance products. The participants also heard evidence that extending loans to riskier borrowers can still be profi table for the lender and can have a positive impact on employment, wages and overall poverty reduction, based on experiments in South Africa and the Philippines. The conference concluded that well-designed fi eld experiments can help an organisation like the EBRD to understand the effectiveness of its lending activity better in particular in microfinance for partner banks in the region and our ultimate clients: the entrepreneurs in our countries of operations. The conference was an important step in the collaboration between outside academic community and the EBRD which received plenty of constructive ideas on how to improve the design of the Bank s own fi eld experiments on microfi nance and future analysis of its initiatives. The organisers plan to further promote this cooperation on regular basis. The Bank is already participating in the Stakeholder Committee of the Integrated Training Network proposed to the EU by Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (Namur), Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques, London School of Economics (LSE) and Institute for International Economic Studies Stockholm and Universita Bocconi. The conference was organised by the EBRD in cooperation with the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the Harvard-based Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development. It was hosted by the LSE and the Bank. BAS A Business Advisory Services (BAS) offi ce, funded by the Early Transition Countries donor fund, has opened in Tajikistan. BAS has 29 offi ces across the EBRD s countries of operations. 7

8 Publications Transition Report 2007 The Transition Report offers an indepth analysis of economic progress in 29 countries from central Europe to central Asia. Drawing on the EBRD s experience as one of the largest investors in the transition region, the Report provides comprehensive analysis of the transition from centrally planned to market economies. This year s Report makes extensive use of the 2006 EBRD/World Bank Life in Transition Survey (LiTS), which comprised interviews with 29,000 people in 29 countries. The survey provides a unique insight into how the transition has affected people s everyday lives and attitudes. Are they happier now than they were in 1989? Have their living standards improved or deteriorated and what are their expectations for the future? The Report analyses how people s levels of satisfaction, well-being and views about the role of government vary across the transition region. It identifi es the groups that have benefi ted or suffered most and investigates how the changes in people s lives have affected their attitudes towards markets, democracy and support for further reform. The dramatic changes that have taken place in the labour market are also analysed, from the job losses that accompanied the closure of lumbering state-run enterprises to the emergence of new opportunities in the private sector. The Report analyses how changes in the job market have influenced people s attitudes and outlook, their levels of trust and expectations for government policy. It also examines how public services can be improved and modifi ed to meet some of these expectations. It discusses ways of involving the private sector in the delivery of traditional public services and looks in particular at the opportunities to forge public-private partnerships in areas such as health care. The final part of the Transition Report consists of country-by-country assessments of the latest progress in structural reform and macroeconomic developments for each of the EBRD s 29 countries of operations. Extensive tables and charts provide the latest data on GDP, employment, infl ation, the trade balance, foreign direct investment and many key economic indicators. All of the EBRD s publications can be found on our web site at: Most can be downloaded free of charge, or hard copies can be obtained by contacting the Publications Desk. Tel: +44 (0) ; Fax: +44 (0) ; pubsdesk@ebrd.com Contacts Biljana Radonjic Ker-Lindsay NGO Relations Adviser Tel: radonjib@ebrd.com NGO Relations Unit Fax: Newsletter production Anthony Martin Editorial Manager Helen Warren Editorial Assistant 8