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Weekly Lists
February 1, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 27
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Infrastructure
Protest against hydropower development draws thousands in Serbia
Turkmenistan to privatise transport sector
Around 6,000 people protested in the Serbian capital Belgrade on January 27 over concerns that the planned construction of hun- dreds of hydropower plants in the country will damage the environ- ment. The Serbian authorities plan to build more than 850 hydro- power plants, about 200 of which will be within nature reserves such as national and natural parks.
The protesters, organised by a number of civil organisations and NGOs, carried banners "We do not give you our rivers!" or "Save our water!" marching to the government premises, the Save the Blue Heart of Europe organisation said on January 28.
They called for all HPPs projects, particularly small ones, to be halted. Approximately 95% of the projected plants in Serbia are small HPPs with capacity of less than 10 MW, for which water is typically diverted through pipelines, leaving streams and rivers almost dry.
Turkmenistan will privatise most of its state-owned transport system and gradually end funding for the nation’s Academy of Sci- ences, according to a decree by President Gurbanguly Berdymuk- hammedov published on January 30.
The measures are part of efforts to save the government’s funds in order to bolster its struggling economy - the country’s hydrocar- bon-exports dependent economy was hit by low world oil prices in the previous years.
The privatisation process is "designed to help strengthen the com- petitiveness of the national economy," increase investment, and strengthen small and medium-sized businesses, the decree said. The president did not indicate whether foreign companies would be able to invest in the privatised Turkmen transport sector. He gave the Justice Ministry three months to propose legislation to trans- form the industry.
The European Union is to financially back the strategic project to construct Georgia’s Anaklia Deep Sea Port on the Black Sea with a €233mn grant. Indirect support, meanwhile, will be provided by the bloc in the form of €100mn of financing for rail and road infrastructure.
The $2.5bn port project is being developed by the Anaklia Develop- ment Consortium backed by Georgia’s largest lender, TBC Bank, under a build-operate-transfer contract with the government, signed during the time of former PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
Iran, India launch shipping line connecting Mumbai to Chabahar