Commercial banks to go over to international accounting standards only in 2004

The transition of Russian commercial banks to the international accounting standards is to be completed on January 1, 2004, said Sergei Ignatiev, the Russian Central Bank's chairman, speaking at the 12th congress of the Russian Banking Association. Not only banks, but also non-credit organizations are to carry out the transition, he said. In this context a new law on accounting will be adopted and the necessary amendments to the Central Bank's legal documents will be made, said Ignatiev. He paid special attention to the strengthening of banking control. This issue will be one of the priorities for the Central Bank, he said, pointing out that "the Central Bank still cannot estimate the financial state of banks correctly".