According to him, Russia-World Bank relations have become more mature. Mr. Wolfensohn said Russia had significant resources at the moment, and it did not need aid from international financial organizations, but the World Bank continued cooperating with Russia, acting as a “knowledge bank”

On the YUKOS case, the World Bank chief said he did not see it as a significant change in the policy of the Russian government. The YUKOS case certainly had a negative impact on the Russian market, Mr. Wolfensohn said, but he saw it as a one-time incident.

He complained about Russia’s underdeveloped small and mid-size business. In Mr. Wolfensohn’s opinion, there are many people in Russia who could become entrepreneurs. In addition, he said there were many poor people in Russia’s rural areas, and this problem required government interference. Mr. Wolfensohn said it was necessary to create conditions whereby people could improve their life.

The World Bank President stressed the importance of fighting against corruption and administrative barriers. He also spoke about the problem of forgiving Iraq’s debts. According to Mr. Wolfensohn, this issue is very important. Iraq’s foreign debt is about $120bn.