something smells around here…
european investment bank ignores right
to know
friends of the earth
slovakia
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Since 1999, people living in
the Slovakian town of Ruzomberok have
questioned plans for modernization and
production increase at the Neusiedler
SCP paper mill. The World Bank
considered financing the project, but
pulled out. In 2003, citizens were
surprised when the European Investment
Bank (EIB) appeared on the scene with a
64 million Euro loan to the paper mill.
Their ignorance was understandable: the
EIB disclosed information about the
loan very late, and only through its
website rather than directly to the
public.
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The environmental pollution caused by
the SCP plant in Ruzomberok is a main
reason for the town's status as a highly
polluted area. The town and surrounding
areas are well known throughout the Slovak
Republic for the unbearable stench caused
by the plant's emissions. In 1999, more
than 3,000 inhabitants signed a petition
against the company's long-term pollution
of their local environment. In spite of
serious health problems in the town and in
surrounding areas, the risks arising from
the pollution have never been rigorously
assessed.
Despite local protests, the company
geared up to increase its paper production,
applying for construction permits for
modernizing and increasing capacity.
Affected citizens appealed against the
deficiencies of the project construction
permit process. Based on their claim, the
court decided not to issue the permit until
the local NGO's concerns had been seriously
investigated.
too little information and too
late
Local citizens learned of the EIB loan
only after
it
had been approved by the Bank's Board of
Directors in July 2003. In September 2003,
Friends of the Earth Slovakia submitted a
request for information to the EIB, asking
three easy-to-answer questions about the
transparency of the loan approval. The EIB
answered only one of them, with
unsatisfying general phrases and excerpts
from the Bank's information policy.
Furthermore, the EIB approved the loan
request despite the fact that several
ongoing legal proceedings submitted by
affected local citizens concerning
violations against their rights to public
participation had not yet been settled. The
local NGO has requested that SCP increase
production under two conditions: the
installation of an air quality monitoring
system, and the undertaking of a serious
analysis of the local health situation both
before and after project
implementation.
The Ruzomberok case is one in a long
list of EIB loans that have been made with
neither transparency nor public
participation. Ironically, the Bank itself
portrays the project as a positive one, and
had promised that “significant
environmental improvements” would
result.
