Workers paying the price: Hidden costs of the transition mineral boom in Eastern Europe and Central Asia - 2026 analysis
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Jose Luis Stephens, Shutterstock
Demand for minerals critical to the just energy transition in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) has continued to grow over the past year, accompanied by an increasing number of allegations of environmental harm and human rights abuse linked to their development, extraction and processing. Our 2025 data show that the number of allegations increased by 38% compared with 2024, rising from 270 to 373.
We identified 373 new allegations associated with 19 transition minerals across 14 countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Key findings from 2025:
- Russia accounted for 39% of all allegations - the same proportion as in 2024.
- Ukraine's SE Eastern Mining and Processing Plant faced the highest number of allegations (68), nearly three times more than any other company. One of its operations, Smolinska uranium mine, was linked to the highest number of allegations recorded for a single mine (45).
- Workers were affected in 65% (242) of all allegations.
- Occupational health and safety violations accounted for 88% of all issues experienced by workers, followed by personal health issues (40%), workplace deaths (18%), injuries (17%), and wage theft (7%).
- Communities were affected in 31% (117) of allegations.
- Violations of environmental safety standards accounted for 32% (38), followed by air pollution at 31% (36), water pollution at 21% (25), and soil pollution at 20% (23). Cases related to personal health issues and access to information accounted for 15% (17) and 13% (15) of cases, respectively.
- Copper was associated with 25% of all allegations (95 cases) and was linked to allegations in nine countries.
- Twenty-eight percent (105) of all cases involved lawsuits filed by or on behalf of former workers seeking remedy for alleged labour rights violations.
Our findings illustrate that disregard for human rights and environmental impacts comes at a cost not only to workers and communities, but to companies as well, including significant fines, lawsuits and operational suspensions. The principles of a just energy transition are clear: corporate duty of care for human rights, fair negotiations, and shared prosperity. Ensuring these principles are upheld benefits workers, communities, governments and companies alike.
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Company responses
We invited companies to respond to allegations. Read their responses and non-responses here.
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Explore the tracker
Use our dedicated tracker to explore all allegations of abuse linked to the mining development, extraction and processing of transition minerals in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Further reading
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Accelerated demand: Human rights in Eastern Europe and Central Asia’s transition mineral boom
Our 2025 analysis of the impacts of transition minerals in Eastern Europe and Central Asia reveals an alarming rise in human rights and environmental abuses associated with the exploration, extraction and processing of these minerals. Compared to the annual average over the previous five years, documented abuses in 2024 have increased by more than threefold.
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Natural resources and just energy transition
Energy, minerals, land and water sit at the heart of the transition to low-carbon economies, and at the start of every supply chain. However, the use of our planet's resources is all too often entwined with human rights abuse. At the other end of the value chain, renewable energy developers must also ensure they respect human rights to retain public support. Find out why we must ensure that the transition is both fast and fair.
Transition Minerals Tracker
Tracking the human rights implications of mining for key minerals for the transition to a net-zero carbon economy. This tracker seeks to improve the human rights practices of more than 250 companies and their 299 mining operations producing the minerals vital to the renewable energy and electric vehicle sectors by shedding light on the key human rights risks in the geographies where they operate, and the human rights policies and practices of the most important companies in this sub-sector.