Russia & Kazakhstan to Establish a Joint Investment Bank

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, June 24 /PRNewswire/ — According to the Russia’s
and Kazakhstan’s Presidents, both countries will establish a joint
investment bank with a chartered capital of US$ 1.5 billion. This
announcement was made yesterday, after the Eurasian Economic Community
(EurAsEC) summit. The bank, to be headquartered in Almaty (the former
capital of Kazakhstan) with an office in St. Petersburg, and will be
managed by a Russian representative.

“This issue had been discussed in details for many years,” stated
Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The point was to activate work of
EurAsEC’s financial structure. However, we had not proceeded much in
attending to this issue. That is why, on the initiative of
Kazakhstan’s President, Kazakhstan and Russia have agreed to establish
the joint investment bank.”

The EurAsEC summit was opened by Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan
Nazarbayev, who chairs the EurAsEC Interstate Council, who reminded
all present that the summit’s agenda included issues for pushing the
integration process. In effect, members (Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan with Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine
holding observer status) discussed the expansion of cooperation among
member states in the realms of trade, economy, as well as credit and
finance.

Participants recognized the economic growth of all EurAsEC member
states since EurAsEC’s creation: Belarus’ growth rate standing at
6.5%; that of Kazakhstan at 10.3%; Tajikistan, 9.7%; Russia, 6.2%; and
Kyrgyzstan at 4.8%.

The summit also resulted in the adoption of a concept of cooperation
which is intended to ensure a common currency policy for EurAsEC
countries to facilitate the implementation of long-term strategies of
trade and economic cooperation, the forming of a favorable investment
climate, and the maintenance of a general macroeconomic balance within
EurAsEC. Special emphasis was placed on accession of EurAsEC member
countries into the WTO.

BelarusPresident Alexander Lukashenko has been elected Chairman of the
EurAsEC interstate council. The next summit is to be held in Minsk in
2006. Contact: Ivan Pandev Consultant Marston-Nicholson 18 rue Duphot
75001 Paris France Tel : +33-(0)1-42-96-46-00 SOURCE Government of
Kazakhstan

06/24/2005 05:01 ET