Washington D.C., July 23, 2003—
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have been asked to consider financing the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project and ACG Phase 1 project. The BTC pipeline will run approximately 1,760 km from oilfields in the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan, through Georgia to a terminal at Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
As part of IFC and EBRD’s commitment to transparency, environmental and social responsibility, and public accountability, environmental and social documentation have been released for a period of 120-days for public comment.
http://ifcln1.ifc.org/ifcext/btc.nsf
As an integral part of this 120-day public comment period, EBRD and IFC are planning on holding a multistakeholder forum (MSF) meetings in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. The meetings are intended to build on and complement the considerable public consultation already undertaken by the projects. In addition, the MSFs also provide an opportunity for the public to express their views regarding the projects, thereby providing input into IFC and EBRD’s respective Board decisions. In the interest of full transparency, findings of the meetings will be summarized and disclosed to the public before IFC and EBRD Board consideration of the projects. EBRD is also considering financing the Shah Deniz and South Caucasus Pipeline projects and EBRD will answer questions on these projects as well. The schedule for the multistakeholder meetings, which are an essential part of this 120-day disclosure period, are below:
Erzurum (Turkey) Tuesday, August 26
Adana (Turkey) Thursday, August 28
Ganja (Azerbaijan) Monday, September 1
Baku (Azerbaijan) Thursday, September 4
Borjomi (Georgia) Monday, September 8
Tbilisi (Georgia) Thursday, September 11
More details on the participant selection process and criteria, and exact times and venues will be provided shortly. Translation will be provided for all workshops. IFC and EBRD will organize the public meetings with the help of a specialist firm -- CDR Associates. They will be assisted and advised by local facilitators. Further information on the MSFs may be obtained through CDR’s website
www.mediate.org
