Index for 2008

December 2008

  • China protests latest U.S. trade case at WTO
  • NGOs welcome decision by Germany, Austria and Switzerland to suspend contracts
  • Trade suffers as suppliers struggle to obtain financing
  • New JIBC projects
  • Russia's oil companies face short-term crunch
  • German export credit restrictions anger business, Iran and Israel

November 2008

  • ECA Watch protests inadequacies of OECD consultation with CSOs
  • The impact of the world financial crisis on export credits
  • New Dutch export credits for Indonesian weapons systems
  • Log, Stock and Barrel - A new web resource on Financial Institutions in the Resource Sector from the Heinrich Boell Foundation & urgewald
  • Turkey continues Ilisu dam construction despite reports ECA conditions have not been met
  • New JIBC projects
  • IRN presents new guide to China's overseas dam industry

October 2008

  • ECAs and the financial crisis
  • ECAs and nuclear power
  • UK MPs call for ECGD sustainability thrust
  • EDC to voluntarily and proactively disclose internal audit reports
  • OeKB looking to support controversial Tasmanian pulp project
  • Canadians join massive Angola infrastructure renewal project
  • ECAs begin withdrawal from controversial Ilisu dam financing

September 2008

  • ECAs and Nuclear Power
  • New JIBC Projects
  • ECAs and Corruption
  • International bank crisis puts spotlight on ECA funding for aircraft
  • Ilisu: A Test Case for the Global Dam Industry
  • Indonesian military purchases to be supported by ECA credit facilities
  • Renewed ECA credits a part of Zimbabwe political negotiations?
  • Indian ECA supports Ethiopian projects
  • ECAs support Katanga mine project in Congo
  • India sees inexpensive ECA long-term credits as part of credit crunch planning
  • The World Bank Takes the Money and Runs from Chad
  • OECD ECG declines substantive response to ECA-Watch peer review proposals

August 2008

  • BTC pipeline in Georgia shows need for greater ECA diligence (PDF)
  • Could the OECD's Fall ECA/civil society consultation be meaningful?
  • AECL cites US/French ECA subsidies in plea for Ontario nuclear deal
  • Failure of WTO's Doha negotiations leaves ECA subsidies in effect
  • Escalating sanctions are squeezing Iran’s economy says Australian ECA
  • ECAs interested in PNG LNG project
  • Dutch credit debt swaps increase Indonesia risk profile
  • OECD hits UK hard on anti-corruption

July 2008

  • Continuing controversy over Turkey's Ilisu Dam
  • More than 50 Spanish NGOs express concerns over reform of Spanish ECA CESCE
  • UK ECA ECGD to publish greenhouse gas implications of it`s project portfolio
  • Chinese ECA supported Sudan`s Merowe dam begins flooding out local population
  • Halifax Initiative submission on Canada`s Export Development Corporation Act
  • Hong Kong ECA chief resigns over corruption allegations
  • International Rivers publishes report on new financiers and the environment
  • UK Law Lords rule termination of BAE/Saudi investigation was legal

June 2008

  • Environmental Groups Condemn Japanese and French Banks for Financing Sakhalin II Oil and Gas Project in Russia
  • OPIC agrees to review Bolivian community's mining project complaint
  • ECAs approve funding for controversial Camisea LNG project
  • Ongoing ECA fraud investigations raise questions of OECD ECA compliance with anti-corruption measures
  • House of Lords to hear SFO appeal of ruling re BAE / Saudi / ECGD scandal
  • The OECD Common Approaches are dead!

May 2008

  • ECAs meet in Vienna to overcome Turkish inability to meet Ilisu conditions
  • Areva and Westinghouse vie for South African nuclear plant with ECA support
  • ECD announces human rights policy
  • EDC supports XOJet purchase of Bombardier Challenger jets
  • San Antonio Businessman Accused of Defrauding U.S. ExIm Bank of Millions
  • US ExIm to fund India power plants
  • India waives ECA debt to Cuba
  • OECD commemorates 30 years of "The Arrangement"
  • Dutch urged to keep export credit sustainable

April 2008

  • UN`s Ruggie focuses spotlight on export credit agencies
  • Sace joins ECA refusals to support trade with Iran
  • High cost of Indian ECA coverage a hindrance to deeper India/Russia trade relations
  • ECAs important for aircraft financing
  • Russian, French and Italian ECAs sign deal for super jets
  • South Africa writes off ECA debt from Cuba
  • Planned Hungarian guarantee scheme incompatible with EU rules
  • US Eximbank approves $2.2 billion program for India
  • Kazakhstan and China: Relations strengthened further
  • UK court declares cancellation of ECA BAE/Saudi fraud case illegal

March 2008

  • Sakhalin Energy withdraws finance applications to US & UK ECAs
  • Ilisu controversy exposed by Experts and Financial Times
  • Chinese ECA mired in Filipino corruption enquiries
  • Nationalisation of Dutch Export Credit Facility
  • Australian ECA EFIC finances Trinidad Coast Guard vessels
  • Investors sought for Yemen LNG project as costs skyrocket
  • Turkish geothermal plant qualifies for US ExIm renewable energy incentives

February 2008

  • SFO in UK High Court over dropped BAE bribery investigation
  • OECD announces new sustainable lending policies for export credits
  • Hermes changes export guarantee rules
  • Zurich Emerging Markets to insure controversial carbon credit projects
  • South African ECA insures Malawian uranium mine project
  • New Ilisu Campaign Website
  • ECGD and Sinosure sign MoU on wider co-operation
  • European Parliamentary Committee encourages Chinese ECAs to conduct EIAs
  • US ExIm Bank increases coverage for Angola

January 2008

  • New report guides campaigners to previously hidden export credit information
  • More fiddling while Rome burns - banks float non-binding carbon principles
  • IFC approves US$300 million for flawed Peruvian Camisea II LNG project
  • Britain Unsure on Sakhalin
  • Indonesia signs US$615 power plant loan with China's Export-Import Bank
  • World Bank continues efforts to engage China's Export-Import Bank
  • New Chairman for ECGD's Advisory Council
  • SACE chooses Lehman Brothers to advise on privatization
  • Chad's unrest is partially related to ECA supported pipeline project
  • New DebtWatch book highlights Spanish ECA CESCE's support for Spanish Companies