Blackmailed loan
a loan of us $215 million will be granted to Ukraine by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The loan will help Ukraine build its two nuclear power stations, Khmelnytsky-2 and Rivne-4. A few environmental pressure groups allege that ERBD has bowed down to pressure from Ukraine, which threatened to keep open the Chernobyl power station unless the loan was approved. "EBRD can no longer be trusted. The bank has become a representative of the nuclear lobby,' said Yury Urbansky from the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine. "It is absurd to replace Chernobyl with two new nuclear reactors,' said Tobias Muenchmeyer, a spokesperson for the environmental pressure group, Greenpeace. At least 63.7 per cent of the bank's board, including the UK and the US, voted in favour of the project. But several European countries, such as Germany, Italy and Spain abstained from voting. Others, including Austria, the Netherlands and Norway, voted against it. Aside from the safety aspect, some countries stated that the plants will not be able to generate enough money to repay the loan. The loan has been granted to Ukraine with a number of conditions, including giving proof that Chernobyl has been closed.