03 June 2004 02:46
Govt approves World Bank loan for St. Petersburg (Part 2)
MOSCOW. June 3 (Interfax) - The government on Thursday approved an agreement on a World Bank loan totaling $161
million to finance an economic development project for St. Petersburg, Culture Minister Alexander Sokolov said.
The project will also require federal budget funds.
Explaining the need for the loan, St. Petersburg Deputy Governor Mikhail Oseyevsky, who attended the Cabinet session,
said that the city's budget is expected to run a deficit in 2005-2006.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said that unlike the federal budget, which traditionally has a surplus, the budgets of
many Russian regions run a deficit.
"We cannot ban a region from choosing a cheaper instrument for itself," Kudrin said, underscoring the need
to reduce the number of new projects implemented at the federal level that may require foreign loans.
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov reiterated his request to analyze the way of using the country's own funds and
assess the efficiency of spending previously granted loans. [RU ASIA EUROPE EEU EMRG FIN WB] me tm tj <>
[Interfax] |
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