Jelena Prtoric, China Dialogue, February 4, 2022
The Balkan nations are among the first to feel effects of President Xi’s announcement of an end to support for coal projects, as struggles over energy transition persist.
The future of a 700 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina is uncertain after it was unable to secure financing from Chinese banks.
“This is the first time the Chinese commitment to exit from overseas coal has been applied retroactively to a project announced before Xi Jinping made his pledge in September 2021. And it opens a realm of possibilities to move away from other coal projects in the Western Balkans,” said Wawa Wang, director of Just Finance, an NGO advocating for transparency in public financing. “But Chinese banks’ refusal to provide financing for the Ugljevik III project is not enough.”
Read the article in full: China Dialogue
