(Pacific Environment, San Francisco, 4 March 2008) Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) told Dow Jones that it is withdrawing applications for hundreds of millions of dollars in public financing for the crisis-plagued Sakhalin II project from the US Export Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) and the UK Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD).
Index for March 2008
Volume 7, Issue 3
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Ilisu controversy exposed by Experts and Financial Times
A. Protest Rallies Against Turkish Dam Held All Over Europe
A. Protest Rallies Against Turkish Dam Held All Over Europe
(ECA Watch, Paris, 14 March 2008) Critics of the ill-conceived Ilisu Dam in Turkey held protests and rallies all over Europe in front government buildings, banks and companies involved in the dam project. The protesters' case against the dam was bolstered by revelations in a new experts report that environmental and social conditionalities are not being followed.
B. Berlin May Withdraw ECA Backing for Turkish Dam Project
(Der Spiegel, Frankfurt, 24 March 2008) Germany is considering suspending export guarantees for the planned construction of a controversial bridge in Turkey that would flood ancient cultural treasures and force the displacement of tens of thousands of residents.
C. Financial Times Weekend Magazine highlights Ilisu "Deep Divide"
(Financial Times, London, 22 March 2008) Eighty kilometres downstream from Hasankeyf lies a very serious threat to its future. At the village of Ilisu, a huge dam is being planned and constructed by the Turkish government. When the project is finished, Hasankeyf will be inundated, submerging thousands of years of history. This FT documentary includes 3 online videos showing the degree of opposition to the dam in the region, including Iraqi concerns at significantly reduced water flows in the Tigris River which Turkey has not consulted on as required by international law. The experts found significant problems, particularly in the area of resettlement. There is no full income restoration plan and grievance mechanism as required, villagers were not properly informed, and there has not been a proper archaeological survey or environmental plan.
D. ECA Committee of Experts report now available (PDF)
(Ilisu CoE, 13 February 2008) An 81 page report written by the committee of experts hired by European export credit agencies shows that the social and environmental risks of the project are as great as anticipated by NGO critics. -
Chinese ECA mired in Filipino corruption enquiries
(ECA Watch, Paris, 30 March 2008) Last September we reported on a Filipino Senate inquiry into alleged kickbacks in a now cancelled US$394 million telecommunications contract awarded to China's ZTE with Chexim backing over a US ExIm backed US$135 million bid from ARESCOM. News reports now indicate that a US$503 million rail project funded by Chexim has been approved by the Filipino government with no bids and no provision to relocate some 40,000 families settled near the tracks. Catholic Bishops and teachers have called for further enquiries into wide-spread Filipino corruption. -
Changes in Dutch legislation have been proposed to the Dutch parliament that will change the status of the State from issuing reinsurances, into an agency itself directly issuing export credit insurances which appears to Atradius DSB will in future have to compete in bidding processes with other interested agencies to be able to continue to implement the Dutch export credit facility.
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(Breaking News, Post of Spain, 18 March 2008) Trinidad and Tobago has awarded a contract to Austal Ships PTY Limited for six fast coastal patrol craft. The vessels and associated services will be financed by the Australian and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) as well as by the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) – the Australian Government Export Credit Agency.
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(Gas World, Cornwall UK, 10 March 2008) With costs skyrocketing around the globe, the Total-led consortium developing the Yemen LNG project is believed to be seeking investors for help with ballooning capital expenditures for the facility, which have now reached up to $4bn. The $1.44bn loan will be split between three export-credit agencies, consisting of Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance and France's Coface. Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) and KEXIM are together expected to provide direct loans of $360m.
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(finchanel.com, T'bilisi, 5 March 2008) FINANCIAL -- POWER Engineers, Inc., an engineering consulting firm based in Hailey, Idaho, is exporting $4.86 million of procurement, design and engineering services for a geothermal power project in Turkey, backed by a 15-year loan guarantee from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). The 45-megawatt power plant project in Germencik, near Aydin in western Turkey, qualifies for Ex-Im Bank's 15-year financing terms under OECD approved special initiatives to support exports of renewable energy and water projects.