RUSSIA UNCOVERS FINANCIAL LEVERAGE
Cbonds. Info
12.10.2009 – RBC
On Friday, Chisinau played host to the CIS summit convened to
hammer out a unified anti-crisis strategy. However, the anti-crisis
discussions seemed to center on loans from Russia: Moscow said
"almost yes" to the new Moldovan government, and once again turned
down Ukraine and Belarus. Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
hinted that the Eurasian Economic Community money could be extended
even to non-member countries. This led experts to say that financial
aid had become Russia’s major leverage over the former USSR countries.
On paper, the Chisinau summit appeared to be very productive: leaders
reportedly signed over 20 documents, including the coordinated roadmap
to deal with the aftermath of the global financial crisis. As Dmitry
Medvedev pointed out, the summit participants "discussed the documents
in substance, and not just to observe formalities." However, there have
been no reports as to the exact measures the roadmap implies. As for
other documents adopted, they cannot even boast such a conspicuous
name. Among other things, summit participants resolved to announce
2010 the year of veterans of the Great Patriotic War (World War II).
Against this generally dull background, outbursts in political
activity were particularly noticeable. Dmitry Medvedev, for one,
held a trilateral meeting with Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev to discuss the Karabakh settlement
once again, which has become a tradition at the latest formal and
informal CIS summits.
At the same time, it was equally important for Dmitry Medvedev to
avoid a meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who had
been actively seeking au audience in the run-up to the summit. As a
result, Medvedev cited incompatibility of their working schedules,
while Yushchenko specified who had been behind the incompatibility.
A meeting with the new Moldovan leadership – acting President Mihai
Gimpu an ion Marian Lupu, who was introduced to participants as the
future head of state – became another important event. Alongside the
attention of the Russian President, the Moldovan delegation received
another present: Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Deputy PM Igor
Shuvalov vowed to Moldovan PM Vlad Filat to return to the issue of
the $500bn loan- a loan Russia had promised to the Moldovan government
while it was still led by the Communist Party.
When asked about Ukraine and Belarus, Alexei Kudrin reiterated that
loans were not being considered on a bilateral level. President
Medvedev, however, urged all countries to file their bids to the
Eurasian Economic Community fund, which still leaves a chance to get
a loan not only for Minsk, but also for Kiev, which is not a EurAsEC
member. PIR Center’s Dmitry Astafyev believes that, given the lack
of economic mechanisms within the CIS, the friendship between the
CIS states largely relies on gas and Russian loans.
Analytical department of RIA RosBusinessConsulting