Vice-premier Alexei Kudrin Flew To Washington To Attend Spring Meetings Of Imf And World Bank

Vice-premier, head of the Ministry of Finance Alexei Kudrin flew to Washington on Friday. According to the information provided by Kudrin's press-secretary Gennady Yezhov, the vice-premier will attend the "spring meetings" of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). On Saturday, 28 April, Kudrin will take part in the meeting of the "financial seven" with Russia's participation, which is attended by the finance ministers and heads of central banks of the member-countries. From Russia's side, apart from Kudrin, Tatyana Paramonova, deputy head of the Central Bank, will also take part in the meeting. Kudrin also intends to hold a series of bilateral meetings with the US secretary of treasury Paul O'Neill, IMF managing director Horst Koehler. The Russian vice-premier plans to discuss with the World Bank's president James Wolfensohn a program of cooperation for 2001 and for the near future. On 1 and 2 May, Alexei Kudrin will be in New York where he will attend a high level annual meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council. The meeting's topic is elimination of poverty and development of international financial system, enhancement of responsibility of the state and private sectors for prevention of financial crises. Alexei Kudrin will make a report in which he will give his assessment of Russia's financial and banking systems, regulation of laws in this filed, as well as Russia's needs of international technical assistance to consolidate its financial and banking systems and to implement appropriate international standards.