In this issue...

- IMF officials in Moscow to monitor Russian budget, economic policies

Earlier stories...

- Russian official: Tax revenue up by 30 percent thanks to reforms(06/14/2001)

- Kasyanov calls for development of Russia's most competitive industries(06/14/2001)

- IMF officials in Moscow to monitor Russian budget, economic policies

MOSCOW (AP) - The International Monetary Fund's top Russia expert met with government officials Monday as part of the fund's effort to monitor economic policies in a country that owes it some dlrs 12 billion.

After meeting officials in the government headquarters, Gerard Belanger was scheduled to meet Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. Belanger arrived for a one-week visit Saturday, and was to be joined Monday evening by Stanley Fischer, the IMF's No. 2 executive.

COMPLETE COVERAGE Interactive - Go to the message board Government links: - Central Bank (Russian) - Ministry of Finance (Russian) - Russian government - Ministry of Economic Development and Trade - Governmental Center of Strategic Studies Russian site links: - Russian Stock Market - Economic Expert Group - Econometric Unit VEDI - Voice of Russia - economy - Institute for the Economy in Transition Foreign site links: -Hoover Institution - Russian-European Centre for Economic Policy - International Montery Fund on co-operation with Russia - European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on co-operation with Russia The Russia Journal links: - Read the earlier economy news from the RJ ticker. - Russia, the West and Gaidar(23 Mar, 2001) - The government’s golden grab(17 Mar, 2001) - Parked in neutral(03 Mar, 2001) - Is Russia protected from future economic shocks?(24 Feb, 2001) - Breathing life into Russia(24 Feb, 2001) - We can no longer vouch for the reformers(24 Feb, 2001) - Russian market takes hit(03 Mar, 2001) - Government challenged by reform of monopolies(27 Jan, 2001) - The ‘2003 problem’ not new(20 Jan, 2001) - Illarionov goes on the warpath(20 Jan, 2001) - Good, but not good enough(13 Jan, 2001) - Russia’s economic agenda(13 Jan, 2001) - Kiriyenko keeps eye on economy(16 Dec, 2000) - RJ street Poll: Has the overall improvement in Russia's economy helped you?(25 Nov, 2000) - Made in Russia: Russia eyes its export sector to boost economy(18 Nov, 2001) - Inside the economy: Concerns from the IMF(09 Sep, 2000) - It’s all in the economy(26 Aug, 2000) - 2 years on, Russia's economy 'healthy'(19 Aug, 2000) Special Reports: -Special report. Russian economy: Which way is it heading? Opinion: -Cutting Russia’s debt burden (27 Apr, 2001) -Russia, the West and Gaidar (23 Mar, 2001) -Editorial: The big test (03 Mar, 2001) -The ‘2003 problem’ not new (20 Jan, 2001)

Belanger's team is studying Russia's proposed 2002 budget and the state of economic reform as part of followup consultations the IMF provides to countries after they are no longer receiving IMF loans.

Russia has had several IMF loan programs. However, it rejected a new, one-year standby line of credit because it couldn't tap the money unless its economy worsened sharply, while it would still have to adhere to IMF conditions.

Despite receiving billions, Russia has never completed all the IMF's conditions for its loans, intended to help the nation make the transition from Soviet central planning to a market economy. The IMF has pressed in vain for measures such as reform of the weakly regulated banking system, still moribund after the 1998 economic crisis, or make its Central Bank more open about its dealings.

Also Monday, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov proposed that parliament cut the profit tax on businesses from 35 percent to 25 percent in return for cutting the number of exemptions. Kasyanov said the move would be "a serious step" toward stimulating industrial output and growth, Interfax reported.

Russian industrial production has modestly rebounded from the 1998 crisis, but mostly because the ruble fell sharply against foreign currencies, making imports much more expensive and Russian-made goods more competitive on price. Many industries have been slow to restructure and lack new investment.

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Earlier stories...


- Russian official: Tax revenue up by 30 percent thanks to reforms

MOSCOW - Russian tax revenues rose 30 percent in the first five months of 2001 compared with the same period last year, a Cabinet minister said Wednesday.

Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref attributed the boost to reforms of the country's complicated tax system that came into effect this year, the Interfax news agency reported. He said more measures to ease the tax burden would follow.

Gref's remarks came as a team of economists from the International Monetary Fund arrived in Moscow on Wednesday. The team, which is visiting Moscow for two weeks, is to examine the basic parameters of the government's draft 2002 budget, an IMF official said.

The visit is part of an attempt to monitor the progress of Russia's economic reforms after a series of IMF loan programs through most of the 1990s.

Russia owes the IMF about dlrs 12 billion, making it one of the organization's biggest borrowers. In nine years of membership it has never finished a loan program as scheduled and has failed to meet program requirements such as greater openness by the central bank or the abolition of price controls.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev said that food imports had fallen while domestic food production grew.

He said imports account for 20 percent of the food market, compared to more than 40 percent in 1996-97, according to Interfax.

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- Kasyanov calls for development of Russia's most competitive industries

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Wednesday called for businesses to concentrate on developing the nation's most competitive industries, including space and aviation technology, and demanded that alleged trade discrimination against Russia be ended.

Kasyanov delivered the opening address at the Economic Forum in the northern port of St. Petersburg, which organizers said had attracted more than 2,000 delegates from 37 countries this year. The annual forum, organized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, is supposed to be the former Soviet Union's answer to the prestigious world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"We give primary attention to developing trade relations with European states," Kasyanov said, adding that Moscow would insist on "fair and equal relations."

"We insist that Russia's transition to the principles of free trade and its future membership in the World Trade Organization be accompanied by acknowledgment by our European partners of the market status of our economy and lifting existing, discriminatory measures in relation to Russian exports."

Russia has been pushing for membership in the WTO since 1995, but it has failed to open up its markets and bring legislation into line with WTO norms.

Many Western officials argue that Russia still hardly deserves to be called a market economy - the key condition for admission into the 140-nation WTO, which sets the rules for international trade.

The theme of this year's Economic Forum is "The 21st Century: Innovative Development for the Good of Mankind." Kasyanov said Russian producers and investors should focus their efforts on competitive industries including space, aviation, biotechnology, information technology and nuclear energy, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

But Yegor Stroyev, the chairman of Russia's upper house of parliament, cautioned that according to some estimates Russia ranked 55th out of 59 countries in terms of competitiveness.

Ukraine's new prime minister, Anatoly Kinakh, said his nation wanted to deepen cooperation with other members of the Commonwealth, and said it was particularly interested in cooperating with Russia in airplane construction.

Kiev is interested in "preserving and developing the historic economic ties on principle of mutual interest, equitable cooperation and in conformity with the market," he said, according to ITAR-Tass.

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