1)
Out of Court Settlement for ECA Watchdog: UK Corruption Standard
May Have Been Weakened Under Corporate Pressure
2) Russia Orders Oil Pipeline to Pacific
3)Sakhalin Update:
- 3a) Radioactive Devices Detained on Sakhalin
for Second Time in 2 Months; Daewoo President Arrested for Sakhalin
II Equipment Incident
- 3b) Indigenous Protest of Sakhalin Oil
Pending
-3c) Sakhalin Energy,
JBIC to Sign Sakhalin-2 Finance Agreement
4) UK’s ECGD Insures
Saudi Military
5)
Chinese ECA Signs Deal to Gain Access
to Power, Oil, Gas, Mines in Pakistan
6)ECAs Join Paris Club to
Agree on Debt Relief to Tsunami-Hit Nations
7) Balkan Pipeline
Agreement Signed
8)Japanese and Chinese Investment
Climate Warming
—View Back Issues
of What's New—
1. Out of Court Settlement for ECA Watchdog: UK Corruption Standard May Have Been Weakened Under Corporate Pressure Jan. 13, 2005 (Financial Times,
UK) - The anti-corruption watchdog Corner House claimed
a "great victory in the public interest" yesterday,
after settling out of court a UK High Court action over
the way new procedures on bribery and corruption were introduced.
During the procedures, "devastating" documents
- which deal with communications between the UK Department
of Trade and Industry, the UK ECA ECGD, and business - clearly
demonstrated that the recent weakening of ECGD corruption
controls had been "a political decision". British
companies such as BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce lobbied ECGD
fiercely and successfully for the corruption measures to
be watered-down this past November. As well as agreeing
to a fresh consultation with Corner House, the ECGD agreed
to pay its legal costs.
2. Russia Orders Oil Pipeline to Pacific
Jan. 1, 2005 (Agence France Presse, Moscow,
via Taipei Times)- Russia announced that it has ordered the
construction of an oil pipeline from its Siberian oilfields
to the Pacific Ocean opposite Japan, expanding its export opportunities
throughout East Asia and to the United States. Energy-thirsty
rivals Japan and China have been competing for access to supplies
from the world's second biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia;
the Pacific link won out when in April 2004, as
reported by the Washington Post, the Japanese ECA Japan
Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) offered USD $150B
in project credit. Since 2002 JBIC has extended three multi-million-dollar
credit lines to Russia in support of Japanese exports, the
third credit line being solidified in November 2004 in the
amount of USD $70M.
3. Sakhalin Update:
3a Radioactive
Devices Detained on Sakhalin for Second Time in 2 Months; Daewoo
President Arrested for Sakhalin II Equipment Incident
Dec. 30, 2004 (MosNews, Russia) - A South Korean business man
was found to be smuggling radioactive instruments into the Russian
port of Korsakov in southern Sakhalin for the second time in
two months.Previously
in November Russian Information Agency (RIA) Novosti reported
that the radioactive equipment imported without proper permits
was intended for use by the South Korean company Daewoo to check
pipe welding quality for Sakhalin II. In
mid-December the Sakhalin Independent reported that the
Daewoo equipment was ordered to be sent out of Russia, as it
couldn’t safely remain on Sakhalin.On
December 30th, 2004, Sakhalin.ru reported [link in Russian]
that Sakhalin Customs Authorities had arrested the local head
of Daewoo for the November incident, and that on Dec 21st, the
local Transport Department Public Defender’s Office had filed
suit against the company. Sakhalin II, the world’s largest oil
and gas project, is seeking up to USD $5B in public financing
from the Export Credit Agencies of the US, UK, and Japan, as
well as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
3bIndigenous
Protest of Sakhalin Oil Pending
Dec. 8, 2004 (RIA Novosti,
Russia) – Native minority groups on Sakhalin island
announced in December that they are planning a protest of
the disruption of their traditional way of life by the oil
and gas developments on the island. The oil and gas fields
and the sites of their infrastructure on the Sakhalin shelf
and island overlap with critical pasture land, fishing zones
and breeding and spawning grounds of valuable fish species,
primarily salmon. Fishing and the production and processing
of biological marine resources are the traditional pillars
of the economy and livelihood for tens of thousands of Sakhalin
residents, including the minority peoples of the island. As
of January 2005, the protest action is still being planned. On
Dec. 28, 2004, the indigenous communities of Sakhalin sent
this letter to the Japanese ECA JBIC protesting their financing
of the second phase of Sakhalin II.
3c
Sakhalin
Energy, JBIC to Sign Sakhalin II Finance Agreement
Dec.
17, 2004 (Sakhalin Times, Russia) - The Sakhalin Energy Investment
Company and the Japanese ECA JBIC are finalizing plans for Sakhalin
II project financing, according to the Sakhalin Administration.
Sakhalin Energy is holding talks with other international banks,
but JBIC is alleged to intend to finance a significant amount
of what is required for the second phase of the project.
Dec.
14, 2004 (Guardian, UK) - The UK government,
via its ECA the ECGD, has secretly agreed to pay the arms firm
BAE Systems £1bn in the event that the Saudi regime collapses. The insurance arrangement is not detailed in any public documents. BAE is currently under investigation by the
UK’s Serious Fraud Office over allegations that a £60m
"slush fund" was paid a Saudi prince to keep its contract
income flowing. BAE is by far the ECGD's biggest customer, a
fact not disclosed in ECGD’s annual report.
Dec.
15, 2004 (The Dawn, Pakistan) - Pakistan and China have forged
several agreements relating to Chinese credits of USD $500M,
signed by the Pakistani Adviser to the PM on Finance and the
President of the Exim Bank of China. Under discussion were Chinese credits to support
the Chashma-II nuclear plant, the Thar Coal Power Project, the
Saindak Gold and Copper Project, and oil and gas exploration.
Jan.
12, 2005 (Bloomberg) - The Paris Club of creditor nations, split
between the US and Europe over debt relief for countries hit
by the Dec. 26 tsunami, agreed to allow them to suspend repayments
until the World Bank and International Monetary Fund report
on their needs. Swissinfo
reported on Jan. 4 that a moratorium depended largely on
the US and Japan, the two main creditors of the
countries concerned. Canada
had already frozen debts owed to it by the affected nations.
The debt moratorium gives relief to Sri Lanka, Indonesia and
Seychelles; India, Malaysia and Thailand have not requested
debt relief.
Dec. 29, 2004 (Balkanalysis.com)
– Top representatives of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania met
to sign an MOU with the president of the AMBO (Albania-Macedonia-Bulgaria
Oil) pipeline project. The US-based corporation has been struggling
since 1994 to promote the project with key political and industrial
backers. AMBO reports that it has USD $900M in backing by the
ECA US ExIm Bank the US development agency OPIC.
Dec.
24, 2004 (People’s Daily Online, China)
- According to research done by Japan’s
ECA (JBIC), from a mid and long-term standpoint, Japanese companies
still view China as the first choice for overseas investment. JBIC's financial
research department conducts an annual survey of Japanese companies:
the 2004 surveys indicate that 91 percent of companies selected
China as their first choice as the most hopeful country or region
in which to unfold investment plan and business. China
led the runner-up Thailand by 61 points.
