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March 2004
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"What's New!" is a periodic email
update to keep you informed of the latest uploads onto the ECA-Watch
website which features a wide range of materials submitted by NGOs
actively participating in the ECA Reform network. If you would like
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www.eca-watch.org today!
Questions? Email info@eca-watch.org
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Items:
1)
Arms Deal Blocked
2)
Leaked Report Exposes Leaky BTC Pipeline
3)
Hunger Strike Looms At Proposed Coal Plant
4)
OPIC Releases New Policies for Forests and Dams
5)
Private Sector Targeted Alongside ECAs
6)
Banking on Empire
7)
Three ECAs to Support Railway Project in Philippines
8)
Russian Diamond Monopoly and Canada's EDC Sign US$15 Million Deal
9)
Deals Without Tenders
10)
Review of Oil and Gas in Indonesia
11)
Exim Bank Approves $60 Million Credit for Mexican Utility
12)
Bibliograghy of ECA Literature
13)
History of Exim Bank
1)
Arms Deal Blocked
February,
2004 The Belgian NGO, Proyecto Gato, and the U.K. NGO, Rights and
Accountability In Development, have won an impressive victory to
block the Belgian Government license for proposed arms transfer
to Tanzania, which was to be backed by the Belgian ECA, Delcredere.
See the four-page NGO
background memo on the victory. See the Wallon-Minister - President
Van Cauwenberghe press
release about the denied license.
2)
Leaked Report Exposes Leaky BTC Pipeline
February
18, 2004 Human rights and environmental groups demanded an independent
inquiry into BP's embattled Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline,
following allegations in the Sunday Times that the company
concealed both potential fraud and likely environmental catastrophe
from governments and banks which subsequently decided to fund the
project. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan crude
oil pipeline project is co-financed by the IFC, the EBRD, and various
other government agencies including US-Exim, JBIC, Nexi, Hermes,
SACE, Coface, ECGD, OPIC, and commercial banks. “This pipeline will
be like an artificial fault line running through some very unstable
territory,” says the World Wildlife Fund.
See
NGO Press Release
See
Sunday Times exposè
3)
Hunger Strike Looms At Proposed Coal Plant
Philippine
environmental activists are poised for a hunger strike when construction
of a 210-megawat coal-fired power plant in Villanueva Town, Misamis
Oriental Province commences. According to a spokesperson for the
Philippine NGO, Task Force Macajalar, “We believe that risking our
lives would be worth it if only to stop the madness of government
officials who are out to kill us with the toxicity of the pollutants
of the coal." Friends of the Earth Japan has urged the Japanese
Bank for Reconstruction and Development to not support the project.
See
articles in:
Inquirer
News Service
Sun
Star
Minda
News
4)
OPIC Releases New Policies for Forests and Dams
February
2004 OPIC has
released updated environmental policies conditioning their support
for investment in dams upon the recommendations of the World Commission
on Dams and prohibiting support for projects that result in conversion
or degradation of critical forest areas or related critical natural
habitats.
5)
Private Sector Targeted Alongside ECAs
February,
2004 Efforts to halt environmentally and socially controversial
projects are shifting from the public sector (such as The World
Bank Group or Export Credit Agencies) to the private sector (such
as the Equator Principles, singed by private banks), writes Jon
Sohn for Environmental
Finance magazine.
6)
Banking on Empire
February
17, 2004 According to the Guerilla
News Network , by mortgaging the national oil revenues through
the Trade Bank of Iraq, a bank managed by New York-based multinational
JP Morgan Chase, Iraq ministers can now borrow billions of dollars
to buy equipment from overseas suppliers. The Trade Bank of Iraq
was formed partially to replace the trade guarantees established
by the U.N. oil-for-food program. Unlike the oil-for-food program,
the Trade Bank guarantees are administered by the private sector
and various government export credit agencies. Although the Occupation
Authority and J.P. Morgan Chase are making it possible for Iraq
to trade with the outside world and buy necessities, critics express
concern that the multinational banks may be shackling a future Iraqi
government with an unknown quantity of debt, and that the Trade
Bank of Iraq will favor companies from contributing nations, regardless
of whether they offer the best products for the price.
7)
Three ECAs to Support Railway Project in Philippines
February
21, 2004 According to Sunstar,
the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), KFW-Hermes of Germany,
COFACE of France, OEKB in Austria, and the European Investment Bank,
are helping to fund the Penay Railways Rehabilitation Project, a
project to revive the railway system between Iloili and Roxas, and
the integration of the existing railway line with the airport in
Cabatuan-Sta. Thousands of Iloili City residents, who will be negatively
affected by the Railway, are petitioning the City Council to block
the revival and to conduct a public hearing regarding the project.
8)
Russian Diamond Monopoly and Canada's EDC Sign US$15 Million Deal
February
8, 2004 According
to Tacy Ltd ., Canada's state export credit agency, Export Development
Canada (EDC) and Russian diamond monopoly Alrosa, signed a five-year
credit agreement to finance Alrosa's imports of Canadian-made mining
machinery and transport management equipment. This marks the first
agreement between a Russian company and EDC.
9)
Deals Without Tenders
February
23, 2004 According to Balkan
Reconstruction Report , critics claim that the Romanian government
backed two projects without undergoing proper tender processes,
one of which will be ensured by China Road & Bridge Corp. through
loans from Eximbank China, China Development Bank, and Sinosure,
China's official export credit insurance agency. This comes on the
heels of the Romanian government's controversial December 2003 decision
to award the San Francisco based construction giant, Bechtel, a
$2.5 billion contract to build a four-lane, 415 kilometer motorway
from the city of Brasov to Oradea. Opponents to the Bechtel contract
stated that the contract process was politically motivated and violates
an agreement with the EU on public acquisitions. Top ten banks announced
interest in the Bechtel project, which will receive some loan guarantees
from U.S. Exim Bank.
10)
Review of Oil and Gas in Indonesia
February
29, 2004 According to Laksamana.net
, a week after a fire broke out at the Attaka offshore oil and
gas field off East Kalimantan Province, JBIC and Nexi signed a $400
million loan agreement with the State-managed PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical
Indotama (TPPI) to help finance a petrochemical project in Tuban,
East Java. The plant will have the capacity to produce 3.6 million
tons of petrochemicals annually, comprised of 1 million tons of
aromatics, 1 million tons of light naphtha, and 1.6 million tons
of kerosene and diesel.
11)
Exim Bank Approves $60 Million Credit for Mexican Utility
March
1, 2004 According to PRNewswire
, the US Ex-Im Bank approved a $60 million credit guarantee
to back Mexico's government owned utility, CFE's, purchases of equipment
and services from a wide-range of US companies. Several foreign
companies backed by their export credit agencies are seeking to
address CFE's procurement requirements.
12)
Bibliography
of ECAs covering policy, legal and economic literature
including books, journal articles, papers, monographs and policy
notes written over the past 40 years.
13)
A History of Exim Bank
U.S.
Exim Bank has commissioned a book of its history, from 1934 to 2000.
Inter Alia , The Market, The State, and The Export-Import
Bank of the United States , explores the tension between private
market principles and foreign policy objectives within the U.S.
Government and the Exim Bank. See the book reviews by:
Becker,
William H. and William M. McClenahan, Jr., Economic History Services
Michael
R. Adamson, Business History Review
View 'back issues':
January-February
2004
December
11, 2003
November
5, 2003
September
15, 2003
May
18, 2003
April
11, 2003
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February 7, 2003
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