TASS. The Finance Ministry of Russia plans to send in April to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) some materials as to resume funding of Russian projects. The relevant question will be put on the table of a meeting held by EBRD Board of Governors in May, a source familiar with the situation told TASS.
"Russia intends to put this issue (to resume funding of Russian projects – editorial note) on the table at the next Board of Governors (EBRD) meeting in May. To have this discussed by the Board of Governors it is necessary for the Finance Ministry of Russia to prepare all materials somewhere until late March. And in early April all materials should be sent to EBRD management and major shareholders," a source said.
The Finance Ministry's official set of documents will include the issue that within EBRD's activities the shareholders will be subject to the sanctions in the regime which exceeds the sanctions regime imposed against Russia by the EU and the United States, the news agency's source said.
"That is, if the sanctions, well known (imposed against Russia – editorial note), apply to the provision of funds and loans for specific sectors of the economy, a company's projects of a certain category and so on, as far as the EBRD is concerned, there are no restrictions or clauses of any kind at all. It turns out that the institution fully terminated all operations. At issue are funds for private companies that have nothing to do with the state-controlled sector," the same source said.
The agency's interviewee emphasized that for the time being it is hard to say how the discussion at the Board of Governors will go. "There are some expectations that the situation could improve in part. But everybody orients himself to what position the American delegation will take at the upcoming meeting. The Treasury Secretary has been appointed, but he has not yet made any program-like statements about international issues on the agenda. It is hard to forecast which approach he will come out with," said the source, emphasizing that if the position of the major shareholder softens, the bank's position towards will become softer as well.
As the source thinks, US President Donald Trump is hardly familiar with what is going on in the bank. "Most likely he will take into account, first and forecast, the position of his Secretary of Treasury. Consequently, so far it is also difficult to say in what form the newly elected secretary will present this topic as he took office just a couple of weeks ago. And, of course, he has hardly had enough time to look into all these matters," the source pointed out.
