Contact information:
Marina Vasilieva, Sr. External Affairs Officer
+7 (495) 745-7000, ext 2045
mvasilieva@worldbank.org  | More than 40 journalists from various media outlets attended
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May 27-28, 2008 - An international workshop Development Aid Statistics: International Experience and Creation of a Russian Accounting and Reporting Systemwas held at the World Bank office in Moscow. The event was organized by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation together with the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The purpose of the workshop was to give the Russian expert community an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the international practices and standards in accounting and provision of data on international development aid assistance. During the workshop participants also discussed practical steps in setting up an efficient reporting system in this area in the Russian Federation.  | M. Belkindas, Development Data Group, World Bank
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The workshop involved the participation of officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Federal State Statistics Service - key Russian ministries and agencies that are involved in implementing the Concept of Russia's Participation in International Development Aid Assistance, as approved on June 14, 2007 by President of the Russian Federation. At the workshop international organizations were represented by the experts from the World Bank, OECD, and UNDP, as well as by the officials from the national development agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development, the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DfID), and several new donor-countries that have already supported introduction of the similar national accounting systems for development aid assistance.  | | Dmitry Pankin, Deputy Minister of Finance |
In his opening remarks Dmitry Pankin, Russia's Deputy Minister of Finance, emphasized that in the next two or three years Russia could double the volume of its international development aid assistance up to US$400-500 million and set up a development aid agency. "In 2007, the total amount of Russia's development aid was US$210 million,"Pankinsaid. He also noted that creation of a unified accounting and reporting system for various programs that the Russian Federation started to support would help address evaluation of the effectiveness of development aid. "Going forward, we will need to create a body responsible for provision of Russia's international development aid. Creation of an accounting and reporting system in the area of international aid would also take two or three years," addedPankin.  | Klaus Rohland, World Bank Country Director for Russia
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Klaus Rohland, World Bank Country Director for Russia, commenting, in turn, on the Bank-Russia cooperation in the area of international development aid mentioned that "The World Bank efforts are aimed at helping Russia in its further development, so that Russia could help other countries in their development." He emphasized that the creation of a system for aid accounting and statistics would be an important step towards building a full-fledged development aid system, and could help defining an assistance strategy for the future. Dmitry Pankin, Deputy Minister of Finance, also noted that based on the outcomes of the workshop Government of the Russian Federation would prepare the directive on developing arrangements, in line with generally acceptable international standards, for statistical data collection and reporting on the amount of Russia's participation in international development aid assistance. |
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