The unfinished Kalivaç dam. Now, a new concession shall revive its construction. © Roland Dorozhani

++ Albanian government re-opens the concession procedure for the Kalivaç HPP ++ NGOs prepare their opposition ++ After 20 years of construction postponements, the Albanian government decided to cancel the contract for the unfinished hydropower project Kalivaç on the Vjosa river in Albania. Shortly after, the Ministry of Energy and Industry opened the procedures for re-issuing the concession.

© Hasankeyf’i Yaşatma Girişimi

It is getting serious for the 650 year old Zeynel Bey Tomb monument. The relocation has started in secret. The government is vigorously trying to prevent the documentation of the preparations for the drowning of Hasankeyf. Read yesterday’s press release of the Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive: +++ Hasankeyf Matters +++ Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive +++ Mesopotamian Ecology Movement +++

Attorney Vladimir Meçi, interviewed by Albanian media after the Court announced its decision. This was the first-ever environmental lawsuit in Albania. © Olta Hadushaj

++ Success for nature conservation and affected residents ++ Big win for the protection of Europe’s last big wild river, the Vjosa in Albania! Yesterday afternoon, the judges of the Albanian Administrative Court in Tirana announced their decision against the construction of the projected hydropower plant “Poçem”: for the time being, the dam must not be constructed.

++ 25 scientists from Austria, Albania, Germany and Slovenia research Europe’s last wild river for a week ++ Press conference held on river island ++ A very unusual press conference was held at the Vjosa in South Albania on April 26 – an initiative like this is without par in Europe. On a gravel island in midst of Europe’s last big wild river – the Vjosa – about 25 scientists from four countries gathered to draw attention to the detrimental impacts that are to be expected from the projected “Poçem” dam.