State Customs Committee Completes Negotiations with World Bank

The Russian State Customs Committee is close to completing negotiations with the World Bank on receiving a tied credit of $140m, senior deputy chairman of the committee Leonid Lozbenko announced at a press conference today. The press conference was devoted to the opening of an exhibition 'Customs Service 2002'. According to the official, the credit will be spent on providing customs agencies with additional office equipment, computers and telecommunications equipment, on the establishment of local computer networks and upgrading existing technical facilities for customs control. The customs official reported that the sides were discussing technical details of the credit, which was expected to be allocated in June 2003.