IMF, World Bank Session Satisfies Russian Vice-Premier

International Monetary Fund and World Bank top functionaries finished spring session in Washington yesterday. Its achievements satisfied Alexei Kudrin, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, who led the Russian delegation to the two-day event. The delegates had not come to the session empty-handed, and the whole gathering appreciated the fact as Russia is coping with all debt obligations and made headway with reforms in April to meet world expectations, says Mr. Kudrin. In particular, the State Duma, parliament's lower house, approved a banking reform package and received a draft Land Code and a money-laundering bill. The Russian delegates highlighted new national strategies for the next to years to the IMF and the World Bank with a refusal to make more loans, as the federal cabinet and the Central Bank of Russia recently announced in a joint statement. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank approved the line at the session. Some Russian moves met understanding, and others full support, says Alexei Kudrin. He left Washington, D.C., night April 30, for New York City to stay there into May 2 to attend an annual conference of the ECOSOC, UN Economic and Social Council.