May 15, 1998 * Volume 1, Number 2
A R O U N D T H E R E G I O N
NGOs blast Slovak officials
The Slovak government does not give sufficient priority to environmental concerns, according to a letter from NGOs that was circulated during the recent two-week meeting of parties to the UN Biodiversity convention in Bratislava, Slovakia. The May 6 letter, which was also circulated on the internet, outlined seven particular cases in which the writers felt the government had poorly handled environmental policy. The letter accused Slovak Minister of the Environment Jozef Zlocha and other officials of taking credit for the good environmental work of private citizens while at the same time ignoring environmental problems. The letter was signed by three conference participants who said they wrote "on behalf of the group of Slovak Environmental NGOs."
Contacts: Environment Minister Jozef Zlocha, Tel: (421-7) 516-2306; fax: (421-7) 515-2438.
Or the letter's signatories: Mikulas Huba, chair, Society for Sustainable Living in the Slovak Republic, tel: (421-7) 531-3968; Lubica Trubiniova, chair, Greenpeace Slovakia, tel: (421-7) 536-1341; Katarina Simoncicova, secretary, City Committee of the Slovak Union of Nature and Landscape Protectors, Bratislava, tel: (421-7) 531-3968.
And the EU, too
Along with Slovak officials, NGOs also criticised the European Union's record of protecting important wildlife habitats, at the Bratislava UN Biodiversity Convention, ENDS Environmental Daily reported on May 7. According to the report, Environmental groups at the meeting, which ran May 4-15, stressed that the EU is in a "poor position to preach conservation" to others, and Brussels-based Birdlife International listed key wildlife sites in eight EU countries that it says are being destroyed by EU policies.
Contact: UN Environment Programme, tel: (41-22) 917-8242 or Birdlife, tel: (32-2) 280-0830.
Poland helps polluters change
Polish authorities are making it easier for firms to get off an embarrassing list of the country's worst polluters, Reuters reported on May 8. In 1990, Poland published the names of 80 firms causing the most pollution. The State Environment Protection Inspectorate has kept these companies under close observation, occasionally levying fines. Originally, firms have had to make changes bringing them permanently up to environmental standards to get their names removed from the list. But Poland's chief inspector told Reuters that the inspectorate had developed a scheme, in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, that offers an adjustment programme allowing firms to be conditionally removed from the list. If the company meets its obligations according to a set schedule, it will stay off the list. Officials say firms reacted positively, and were working harder to solve problems.
Contact: Chief Inspector Teresa Warchalowska, tel: (48-22) 253-325; or Roman Jaworski, monitoring director, Polish Environment Protection Inspectorate, tel: (48-22) 254-129.
Firm plans Polish waste plant
Environmental services firm IDM Environmental Corp. of New Jersey, U.S., said April 30 it will build and operate a USD 50 million, 1,750 tons per day, waste-to-energy power plant for the City of Szczecin, Poland, Reuters reports. IDM said in a press release it expects revenues of about USD 30 million from the operation, the report said.
Contact: IDM Chief executive Officer Joel Freedman, tel: (1-732)
390-9550, fax: (1-732) 390-9545; or Polish Ministry of Industry and
Trade, tel: (48-22) 210-351.
Loan targets Bulgarian waste
The World Bank has approved a USD 16 million loan to Bulgaria for a project to reduce environmental hazards caused by past unsafe practices at the MDK Copper Smelter, according to a report by the Environmental News Service. A key goal of the project would be to shore up a waste-filled lagoon, located near the smelter about 60 kilometres east of the capital of Sofia, which is threatening local drinking water, the report said. MDK is jointly owned by the Bulgarian firm MDK and the Belgian company Union Miniere. Total project cost, including contingencies, was reportedly set at USD 25 million.
Contact: Union Miniere, tel: (32-2) 227-7067; or Bulgarian Environment Minister Evdokia Maneva, tel: (359-2) 882-577.
E U A C C E S S I O N
EU OKs law on genetics
Countries seeking European Union membership eventually will have to abide by the new EU Directive on Genetically Modified Organisms, passed May 12. The pros and cons of genetic engineering are weighed in an in-depth package of articles in the Spring 1998 edition of The Bulletin, an environmental journal published by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe.
Contact: Paul Csagoly, tel: (36-26) 504-000.
N U C L E A R R O U N D U P
Slovakia begins loading nuclear fuel into Mochovce
Slovakia's state-owned electricity generator said it had begun loading nuclear fuel on April 27 into a reactor at its controversial Mochovce power plant, according to a report from Reuters. The announcement by Slovenske Elektrarne came as protesters from the environmentalist group Greenpeace gathered outside the Soviet-designed nuclear plant, which is due to begin operating in June or July, the report said. "The reactor in Mochovce would not gain permission for operation in any EU country, due to its safety shortcomings," Slovak Greenpeace said in a statement on April 25. The Slovak government rejects safety concerns
of environmentalists, saying that the plant was upgraded in line with International Atomic Energy Agency recommendations, according to Reuters.
Contact: Environment Minister Jozef Zlocha, tel: (421-7)
516-2306, fax: (421-7) 515-2438; or Lubica Trubiniova, chairwoman,
Slovak Greenpeace office, tel: (421-7) 536-1341.
EBRD, Bulgaria in nuke talks
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) experts said on April 27 that the Soviet design of the oldest reactors of the Kozloduy nuclear plant was long outdated but praised Bulgaria's efforts to upgrade their safety, according to a report by Reuters. A team of EBRD nuclear experts visited the plant as part of negotiations with the Bulgarian government on whether or not to close Kozloduy's oldest reactors, the wire service said. The EBRD administers a nuclear safety account through which western donors granted aid of USD 26 million to Bulgaria for safety upgrading of Kozloduy's four 440-megawatt reactors, according to the report. Bulgaria was supposed to close two reactors in exchange for the aid, but officials there are now negotiating for more time from the EBRD, because they say the work is costlier than expected, and the nation still needs the energy being generated, the report said.
Contact: Ivan Hinovsky, Bulgarian National Electricity Company, tel: (359-2) 8-6199; or the EBRD, tel: (44-171) 338-7931.
West, Ukraine debate chernobyl
Ukraine threatened to keep the Chernobyl nuclear power plant operating until the West funds two new reactors, but Western officials ignored the threat and instead urged, on May 11, that the nation seek private funding, according to a report by Reuters. Ukraine has continuously sought aid in managing the troubled reactor and officials stepped up their fund-raising efforts last week, when the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which stewards Western funds for Chernobyl's closure, held it's annual meeting in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.
Contact: Ukraine State Committee for Use of Nuclear Power,
tel: (380-44) 294-4812; or the EBRD, tel: (44-171) 338-7931.
C O N F E R E N C E S
Telematics for environment
A conference set for June 4-5 in Szentendre, Hungary will help raise awareness of the ways telematics applications are helping environmental work in the European Union (EU) and Central and Eastern Europe, and the way in which these activities can be expanded in this region. Telematics is a new way of applying information and communication technologies and services for the benefit of society and decisionmakers, particularly at the local level. A key aim of the conference is to disseminate the results of the EU RTD Telematics Application Programme on the environment. Press coverage is welcome.
Contact: Jerome Simpson, Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, tel: (36-26) 504-000, fax: (36-26) 311-294.
Media, Environment and Citizens conference
The Forum for Energy and Development /INFORSE, in Denmark, is planning a conference on Media, Environment and Citizens, to begin around June 11. They are seeking NGO's working with environment and media issues or media people working with environmental issues in Eastern Europe.
Contact: Marianne Juul-Nyholm, tel: (45-3) 312-1307, fax (45-3) 312-1308.
S P E C I E S S P O T L I G H T
Salmon swim Czech rivers again
Salmon returned May 5 to rivers in the Czech Republic's industrial northwest after a 48-year absence, the Associated Press reported. The 45,000 salmon spawn from neighboring Germany were released in three north Bohemian rivers running into the Elbe river Kamenice, Ploucnice and Ohre, the news agency said. The fish are expected to migrate north in two years and return in another four. The last salmon caught in the Czech part of the Elbe was in 1950, but the condition of Czech rivers has improved significantly since 1989, the report said.
Contact: Czech Union of Nature Conservation, tel: (420-2) 375-289; or Rut Bizkova, Environment Ministry, tel: (420-2) 6712-2040.
W H O W E A R E
About Green Horizon
Green Horizon is a free newsletter designed to help journalists stay ahead of environmental news in Central and Eastern Europe. Twice a month, we'll offer tips on upcoming stories to watch for, as well as information and ideas to help you develop in-depth pieces about the region's environment. Green Horizon is produced by the Media Information Service (MIS) of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe. The goal of the MIS is to assist the media in covering environmental issues. It is funded by the European Commission's DG-XI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
For a free subscription, research assistance or to find a source: Send
e-mail to: GreenHorizon@rec.org, or call Tom Popper at (36-26) 504-000, fax (36-26) 311-294.
Funded by European Commission's DG-XI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
