Friends of the Earth Croatia celebrated today with the news that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have cancelled a €123.2 million loan to Croatian electricity company HEP for the construction of the controversial Ombla hydroelectric plant, near Dubrovnik.
The power-plant, heavily reliant on the EBRD loan, would be constructed at the source of city’s river Ombla – a potential Natura 2000 area with rich biodiversity, and the source of drinking water for Dubrovnik city.
Friends of the Earth Croatia and local citizen’s initiative Sr? je naš have campaigned against the project, which would negatively impact upon the local environment, but also the citizens of Dubrovnik. Both organisations have continuously called into question the validity of the environmental impact assessment of the project – a 10 year-old report, considered both outdated and of poor quality.
The decision from EBRD follows a more up-to-date assessment of the project’s impacts, which demonstrates the lasting damage that would be caused to the habitats of the Ombla cave – due to be protected as a Natura 2000 site when Croatia joins the EU. Over 68 cave species were identified during the study, including 14 endemic to the site. These have all consequently been saved as a result of Friends of the Earth’s work, and the decision from EBRD.
Jagoda Munic, from Friends of the Earth Croatia said: “The EBRD’s involvement in the Ombla hydropower plant has from the start been a story of insufficient scrutiny and cutting procedural corners, and we are relieved that the bank has finally had the sense to withdraw.”
Additional uncertainties about the technical and economic credentials of the project, highlighted throughout the campaign, added to the widespread criticism.
