Ottawa, 15 June, ITAR-TASS Boris Grushin: The halting of the exodus of capital from Russia was the main positive news from the meeting today in Halifax between Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin and his G8 colleagues. Kudrin stressed the importance of this news for the development of the Russian economy and its integration into the world economy during the course of all the working and official meetings in Halifax, where the meeting of the finance ministers of the seven advanced industrial nations and Russia ended today.
Speaking by telephone with ITAR-TASS, Kudrin stressed that the fight with money-laundering was far from being the least important factor in this regard. He noted that since the beginning of the 1990s this fight had been carried on with success using administrative methods. At the moment, it is aimed at improving the investment climate, which can also be assisted by the structural reforms being implemented in the country, Kudrin added.
The Russian finance minister also informed his foreign counterparts that the rate of GDP growth in the period January-April was 3.5 per cent, and by the end of the year this indicator is expected to reach 4 per cent. He went on to say that for Russia to move onto a trajectory of stable economic growth it is vital to radically modernize the economy, and introduce state-of-the-art technology.
Kudrin also spoke about the support being given by the Russian government to small businesses.
Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1826 gmt 15 Jun 02