No German or European Subsidies for Serbian Lignite!

BERLIN, October 6, 2011 -

- Press Release by environmental NGO Urgewald and Climate Alliance Germany

Former Kolubara coal mine manager Dragan Tomic and 16 other suspects arrested for allegedly embezzling EUR 12mn / NGO-network calls upon German government to stop loans for Serbian lignite mine Kolubara

On October 4th 2011 former Kolubara coal mine Manager Dragan Tomic and 16 other suspects were arrested on suspicion of having embezzled EUR 12mn. The story behind this most recent scandal: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the state-controlled German KfW Bank want to support the Kolubara coal mine by giving more than EUR 140mn. The EBRD already transferred a loan of EUR 80mn this summer. The KfW will decide within the next few weeks whether to hand over a loan of at least EUR 60mn to their Serbian partner Serbian Electricity Company (EPS).

Urgewald and Climate Alliance Germany now urge the German government to stop both German and EU lending for the Serbian lignite mine immediately.

“Any subsidies for lignite strengthen Serbia’s dependency on coal and support the monopolistic state-run Serbian Electricity Company (EPS),” says Urgewald member Regine Richter. “Burning brown coal is the most harmful way of energy production for the climate. It is a scandal in itself that a state-run bank such as KfW, which is legally bound to support climate protection plans, would put money into Serbian coal mines.”

KfW and EBRD announced that the subsidies are supposed to improve the efficiency of Serbian coal mines and plants.

“This green-washing of brown coal does not work,” declares Mona Bricke, energy expert of Climate Alliance Germany. “While the EU and Germany promote renewable energy and even suppliers such as Vattenfall think about backing out of lignite both for environmental and economic reasons, KfW and EBRD should not counteract these efforts. Loans for Serbian coal mines are simply the same as directly burning people’s money.”

For more information see www.klima-allianz.de

Press Contact:

Regine Richter, Urgewald, +49-170-2930725
Mona Bricke, Climate Alliance Germany, +49-176-21668247

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