Index for November 2005

Volume 4, Issue 11

  • (Financial Express, 21 October 2005) Britain's ECGD has shown little inclination to follow up allegations that a client agreed to pay $170m of bribes to secure billions of dollars of work on a giant Nigerian gas plant. The Commission for Africa set up and chaired by Mr Blair to devise an agenda for the G8 summit highlighted the failure of rich country export credit agencies to tackle corruption. These are important elements in the controversy over $18 billion in Nigerian debt relief recently approved by the Paris Club.
  • OECD Update

      A. Criteria for inclusion of large dams in renewable energy incentives approved
        A. Criteria for inclusion of large dams in renewable energy incentives approved
    (OECD, Paris, 17 November 2005At a November 16th meeting in Paris Participants in the Export Credit Arrangement confirmed the application of the OECD Common Approaches to hydro-power projects, noting that hydro projects will be eligible for new special terms for renewable energy if they meet the requirements of the relevant aspects of all 10 World Bank Group Safeguard Policies in addition to the 3 World Bank Safeguard Policies already included in the Common Approaches. They further recognised the value of other international sources of guidance such as the draft Sustainability Guidelines produced by the International Hydropower Association and the Core Values and Strategic Priorities of the World Commission on Dams Report.
        B. Consensus not reached on enhanced Action Statement on Bribery
    (ECA Watch, Paris, 22 November 2005) Sources close to the OECD negotiations on an enhanced Action Statement on Bribery and Official Export Credits indicate that a consensus could not be reached in discussions during the week of November 14th in Paris.
  • (Dow Jones, London, 27 October 2005) A senior executive of a Royal Dutch Shell PLC-led joint venture on Russia's Sakhalin Island offered $50,000 in cash payment as part of land rental negotiations, a local mayor told Dow Jones Newswires. Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. Ltd., the company involved, denied the allegation. And the mayor himself withdrew it shortly after Sakhalin Energy denied it.
  • (Vietnam News Agency, Jakarta, 28 October 2005) The Indonesian navy will proceed with its plan to purchase four Dutch corvettes at a cost of 1.9 billion USD, Admiral Slamet Soebijanto, Navy Chief of Staff, has said.
  • (Peoples Daily Online, Beijing, 27 October 2005) At the 4th Meeting of Prime Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Moscow, China announced 900 million dollars in preferential export buyer's credits. The SCO is seen in some circles as a forum to counter US influence on the region.
  • (Economic Times, New Delhi, 8 November 2005) The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited would get a concessional loan of Rs 450 crore (US98.4 million) from French export credit insurance agency Coface to import equipment for the 2,000 MW Subansiri Lower hydro project in Arunachal Pradesh.
  • (Berne Union, London, 6 October 2005) The members of the International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers – known as the Berne Union, released record figures for 2004 today. A surge in new business sent total ECA volumes rising by 21% to an all time high of US$788 billion.
  • (Novosti, Beijing, 2 November 2005) Russia's major state-owned savings bank, Sberbank, has asked several Chinese banks for loans to finance large investment projects in Russia. Earlier this year, the bank signed an agreement with Sinosure, China's only export credit insurance corporation. The deal makes it possible to fund short-term commercial transactions of Russian companies and to invest in projects run by Sberbank's corporate clients to buy equipment from China.
  • (BCM, UK, 3 November 2005) During an official State visit, Atradius Dutch State Business (Atradius DSB) signed a co-operation agreement with Russia's Sberbank in the presence of both President Putin and Dutch Prime Minister Balkenende. The agreement will create a framework between Russia’s largest bank and Atradius DSB – the export credit facility of the Dutch State. It ensures that Sberbank will guarantee the risks which Dutch exporters have on Russian buyers. Closer co-operation between Atradius DSB and Sberbank will further support an increase in Dutch exports to Russia, with Russian applications to Atradius growing from 14% of all applications in 2004 to 25% to-date in 2005.
  • (Business Week, Manila, 8 November 2005) Philippine Airlines said Tuesday it will purchase nine new Airbus 320 jets over the next three years for its refleeting program. The company plans to borrow from export credit agencies to fund the refleeting. In other business news, Boeing claimed a growing advantage over Airbus at the Dubai Air Show, announcing $US14.3 billion in aircraft orders vs US$8.24 for Airbus, pushing the rivals closer to a record tally this year as airlines seek more fuel-efficient models. The deals at the Dubai Air Show meant the world's two biggest aircraft makers are close to doubling orders booked in 2004. Approximately a third of all ECA long-term lending goes to air transport.
  • (Eurodad, Brussels, 16 November 2005) French NGO, Coordination Sud, has published a new report on French Official Development Aid (ODA) and the politics of development cooperation, in which it notes that a significant part of the cancelled debt was in fact export credit debt – generated by the French export credit agency COFACE. The purpose of export credit operations is clearly very distinct from that of development, says the report, and therefore the cancellation of these debts should never be counted as aid.