25 May 2021

EKN has not issued any guarantees and will not do so. Based on a fresh analysis, EKN has concluded that the two projects in Belarus lack the necessary prerequisites to meet human rights requirements in compliance with international regulations. EKN has therefore decided not to issue any export credit guarantees.

In August 2020, EKN decided to issue offers for guarantees for exports to two gas-fired power plants in Belarus, with the buyers RUE Minskenergo and RUE Brestenergo. The decision was subject to conditions. A prerequisite for EKN to be able to participate in any transaction is that the project in question meets the requirements in terms of respect for human rights in compliance with international standards, namely the IFC Performance Standards.

The negative developments in Belarus together with new information about human rights violations in the buyer’s operations gave rise to renewed information gathering and analysis. EKN’s conclusion is that the preconditions for issuing export credit guarantees in these transactions have not been met. EKN assesses that in the current situation, it will not be possible to implement the necessary monitoring and measures to ensure that human rights are respected in compliance with international regulations...