24 April 2003
Za Zemiata CEE/ Bankwatch Network
Not above my head, not with my money!
NGOs ask EU not to finance Sofia airport
In a letter sent today, environmental
association Za Zemiata ("For the Earth") and
the CEE Bankwatch Network, supported by
experts and local citizens' organisations,
appealed to the European Commission, the
European Investment Bank, and the Stability
Pact not to support (through loans and
grants) the expansion of the Sofia airport,
citing the project's negative social,
environmental and economic implications for
the country of Bulgaria and its citizens. The
EIB is currently committing a EUR 60 million
loan, and the ISPA fund a EUR 50 million
grant to this project.
Two main points of the NGOs' letter are
the fact that the airport's proximity to
residential neighbourhoods poses a health and
safety threat and that the airport expansion
makes little economic sense. Decreasing
passenger numbers and the bankruptcy of the
Bulgarian air company "Balkan" simply do not
justify expanding the airport, and the costs
of this controversial project will have to be
borne by Bulgarian and EU taxpayers
Local residents also say that their
concerns have been brushed aside. Emil
Kolarov, chairman of the Initiative Committee
for Citizen Protection from the Activities of
Sofia Airport, an organisation representing
affected residents, says,
"We were promised lots of reasonable things
like mitigation measures, we even signed a
program for public control and
participation. Unfortunately, construction
has already started and the promises remain
only on paper."
Violeta Minkova, mayor of Sofia's Nova
Vrajdebna district, adds,
"Some people will lose their homes because
of the construction of the new runway. They
were promised compensation, but the money
they received did not cover the real cost
of the land. They were promised jobs, but
since the start of the construction, none
of them has been offered employment."
Keti Medarova of "For the Earth",
questions the financial sustainability of the
project because of its very low (3,6%)
internal rate of return.
"The project's cost is higher than its
benefits. It will further harm local people
and the environment while not generating
the income stream needed to pay back the
loans. So far, there has been little proof
to justify the project, since the existing
airport facilities fully satisfy the
current passenger flow."
Medarova also says that the airport
authorities did not adequately study the
environmental impacts of the expansion
project.
"There was never a thorough EIA for the
expanded airport as a whole. The EIA's
existing two non-technical summaries study
the new terminal and new runway but do not
show the real cumulative impacts of the
airport facilities, in violation of both
European and national EIA legislation."
The fact that European law may have been
violated is important, since the airport's
backers are hoping for funding from the
European Union and European Investment Bank.
Another issue pointed out by "For the
Earth" is that the responsible institutions
did not adequately address public safety.
Runway planning engineers and experts from
the ICAO (International Civil Aviation
Organization), who support the environmental
group's letter, are opposed to the project
because the environmental impact report does
not accurately assess the threats posed to
public safety. During the past 40 years,
there have been six aeroplane crashes and two
other serious air accidents in the Sofia
region.
Magda Stoczkiewicz, campaign coordinator
for the CEE Bankwatch and Friends of the
Earth points out that the EIB has a poor
record with airport projects. In Schiphol
(Netherlands) and Heathrow (UK) the EIB
approved loans while there were court cases
pending against the expansion.
"If the Bank does not care about the
environment or the opinion of affected
people," concludes Stoczkiewicz, "it should
at least reconsider its financing for Sofia
airport based on economic grounds".
The letter to the European institutions is
supported by local citizens' organisations,
independent ICAO experts and engineers and a
declaration signed by more than 25 Bulgarian
environmental groups. The groups are asking
the responsible European institutions to take
their concerns seriously into account, and to
reconsider their support for this dubious
project.
Notes
The CEE Bankwatch Network is a coalition of
environmental organisations from Central and
Eastern Europe. The network's mission is to
prevent environmentally and socially harmful
impacts of international development finance,
and to promote alternative solutions and
public participation. The NGO letter is
available on request. Further info on the
Sofia Airport expansion issue is available
at:
www.stabilitypactwatch.info/
Contact:
Keti Medarova Za Zemiata / CEE Bankwatch
Network
keti@bankwatch.org
(+359) 89 31 91 79
Magda Stoczkiewicz, CEE Bankwatch /
Friends of the Earth International
magdas@foeeurope.org
(+31) 20 622 13 69
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