Bretton Woods Project - Critical voices on the World Bank and IMF

Jump to main content | Jump to sidebar | Jump to navigation menu



Italian bank dumps troubled World Bank Caspian pipeline

News|Bretton Woods Project|2 February 2005|update 44|url
print|email|bookmarkdel.icio.usDigg!Stumble UponRedditFacebookGoogle Bookmarks

Italy's largest bank, Banca Intesa is seeking to sell its $60 million stake in a controversial IFC-backed oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea. Intesa is so concerned at the reputational and other risks associated with involvement in BP's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) project that it has already sold one third of its share at a loss.

According to a senior spokesperson at the Italian bank, it had only agreed to invest because of the IFC's involvement. However, it pulled out when major problems came to light in 2004 related to BP's chosen pipe corrosion protection system, which could lead to severe corrosion and potentially huge oil spills. Intesa are "very disturbed" and "staggered" by the scale of the problem and the lack of due diligence.

Published: 2 February 2005 , last edited: 21 August 2007

Viewings since posted: 4138

Articles: 2337

Special coverage of Bretton Woods II, updated daily with the latest news and analysis: www.brettonwoodsproject.org/BW2/

Subscribe

Bretton Woods Update, 6 emails/year:
highlights fulltext pdf
Alerts of new web content
Weekly newswire email

Email:


home | subscribe | donate | search | help | contact


validate: | XHTML | CSS | RSS | 508

powered by Action Apps | hosted by GreenNet | Credits