For two years one of the main world federations for environment protection “Friends of the Earth” leads a campaign for higher responsibility of the banks when funding infrastructural projects.
The French branch of this non-governmental organisation is now criticizing strongly the decision of the French bank BNP Paribas to organize the financing of the project for nuclear energy in Belene, Bulgaria, writes the French newspaper “Mond”, cited by BTA.
The banks are obviously completely irresponsible and indifferent to the big challenges in front of the society and are led only by the principle of the economic reality, claims the French branch of the NGO.
For Jan Luvel, responsible for the campaign “Friends of the Earth”, BNP Paribas has not fulfilled the engagement it undertook in June 2007 in front of several non-governmental organizations such as “Greenpeace”, “Friends of the earth”, “No Belene” namely not to finance the nuclear power plant of the Bulgarian national electric company, writes the Mond newspaper.
The environmentalists criticize the “Belene” project because it will be conducted in a seismic zone and will use dangerous Russia technology, which wouldn't be used in France, reminds “Mond”. Last week, however, the Bulgarian media announced that BNP Paribas has been chosen by Bulgaria to play the role of a counselor on the funding of the NPP “Belene” construction project.