Brussels, 01/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - On 25 June, several non governmental organisations (CEE Bankwatch Network, Friends of the Earth International, International Rivers Network, Iceland Nature Conservation Association and Reform the World Bank Campaign) addressed a letter to Philippe Maystadt, the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), appealing to the bank not to participate in the funding of the Karahnjukar hydroelectric project from the European Investment Bank in Iceland.
In their letter, the NGOs stress that the project damages the environment of one of the remaining wilderness areas in Western Europe and is not in line with the EIB's Corporate Operation Plan, which prioritises support for innovative technologies, environmental projects, small and medium sized companies and the social and economic cohesion within the European Union. According to Peter Bosshard of International Rivers Network, "Support for Karahnjakar would contradict the EIB's commitment to becoming more selective and would seriously undermine the credibility of the its environmental guidelines". The NGOs also underline that despite its repeated commitments in favour of transparency, the information policy of the EIB still authorises national governments to keep secret their projects financed by the EIB. The NGOs also deplore the fact that despite the EIB announcing that it was encouraging the Icelandic authorities to be transparent, it had not guaranteed access to information. Martin Koehler from the Italian section of the Reform the World Bank Campaign pointed out that the main contractor in the project was the Italian company Impregilo, which had been the subject of allegations of corruption in a project in Lesotho. Mr Koehler subsequently thought that the EIB should no fund a project with a contractor that had not yet been cleared of the corruption allegations in question.