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EBRD invites public to comment on Sakhalin-2
Bank to hold public meetings on Sakhalin and in Russia, Japan, Britain
Parties with an interest in the Sakhalin-II (Phase 2) energy project off
Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East are invited to take part in public
meetings between February and April. Four Russian meetings will be held in
Moscow and in three locations on Sakhalin Island. There will also be meetings
in Japan and Britain.
The meetings are being organised on behalf of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The Bank is considering whether to lend
money to the project being developed by the Sakhalin Energy Investment
Company, which is held 55% by Shell and 25% and 20% respectively by the
Japanese corporations Mitsui and Mitsubishi.
Sakhalin Energy has asked the EBRD to help finance Phase 2 of the project,
which involves construction of two production and drilling platforms offshore,
and pipelines that would run underwater to the northern tip of Sakhalin
Island, then overland to the southern end of the island to oil and gas export
terminals and a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant. The EBRD financed Phase 1
of the project in 1997.
The EBRD announced on December 14, 2005, that it now considers the company’s
extensive documentation on environmental, social, health and safety impacts of
Sakhalin II (Phase 2) “fit for the purpose of consultation”. Sakhalin Energy’s
latest Environmental Impact Assessment
is available for public comment until April 21, 2006. The comments from the
general public being solicited at these meetings will provide important input
to determine if the project has adequately identified and mitigated relevant
environmental, safety, and social impacts.
The schedule for the public meetings in Russia and the UK is as follows:
London - 28 February
Moscow - 14 March
Nogliki, Sakhalin - 20
March
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin - 23 March
Korsakov,
Sakhalin - 24 March
Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan - mid-April
The London meeting is envisaged as a platform for international and UK-based
organisations, while in Moscow the EBRD expects the participation of
Russia-wide groups who have been following the project and on Sakhalin Island
that of locally based groups. Translation in English and Russian will be
provided for the meetings in Russia, and in English and Japanese for the
Sapporo meeting.
These meetings are held by EBRD with independent facilitators and are not part
of the considerable public consultation already undertaken by the project
sponsors. The meetings offer the public an opportunity to express views
regarding Sakhalin-II (Phase 2) and to ask questions of the EBRD. To ensure
full transparency, meeting summaries will be disclosed to the public before
the EBRD decides whether to fund the project.
Non-government organisations, national government and regional/local
government representatives, academics, research and environmental
institutions, donor agencies, private citizens and private businesses are
expected to participate in these meetings. More details on the programme,
times and venues for the meetings will be provided shortly. The EBRD is
organising the public meetings with the help of Nigel Campbell, an independent
facilitator working regularly with international organisations such as the
OECD, UN, NATO and the European Commission. He will be assisted and advised by
local facilitators. Further information on the meetings can be obtained
through the EBRD website or by contacting Nigel Campbell directly at: ngc@noos.fr.
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