Category: Russia

MIL-OSI Russia: Press Briefing Transcript: European Department, Spring Meetings 2025

Source: IMF – News in Russian

April 25, 2025

PARTICIPANTS:

MR. HELGE BERGER, Deputy Director, European Department, IMF

MS. OYA CELASUN, Deputy Director, European Department, IMF

MR. ALFRED KAMMER, Director, European Department, IMF

MODERATOR:

MS. CAMILA PEREZ, Senior Communications Officer, IMF

* * * * *

P R O C E E D I N G S

(10:00 a.m.)

MS. PEREZ: Hi everyone. Thank you so much for joining today’s press conference on the European Economic Outlook. I’m Camila Perez. I’m a Communications Officer with the IMF. We’re pleased to be joined today by Alfred Kammer, sitting next to me, Director of the European Department here at the IMF. Also, with us we’ve got Oya Celasun and Helge Berger, both Deputy Directors of the Department.

We’ll begin as usual with some opening remarks from Alfred, and then we’ll take your questions. I see some colleagues joining online, so we will also go to your questions online. Alfred, over to you.

MR. KAMMER: Welcome to this press conference on Europe. I have posted my opening remarks and also circulated. You should have them. So, I will just make a few points for emphasis.

First of all, in terms of the outlook, we have had a meaningful downgrade for Europe that reflects the impact of tariffs, partially compensated by an increase in infrastructure spending and defense spending, in particular from Germany. But the biggest impact is coming from uncertainty and tighter financial conditions. The impact is different for the Euro area versus CESEE (Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe). CESEE is more affected as it has a larger manufacturing sector and is more exposed to tariffs.

Second point to make is when we are looking at the medium term, we see rather weak growth, and that has not changed from our previous outlook. And that is a clear result of a large productivity gap Europe has to the global economy. And that is something which clearly needs to be fixed. We were talking about internal barriers; we are talking about financial barriers which need to be overcome. So that’s part of the medium-term growth story, and that is something for the policy part.

On the policy recommendations, first, our recommendation is more trade is better and therefore we are very encouraged that the European Union is continuing to move forward on trade agreements. Those who have been — which have been negotiated, they should be brought to a conclusion.

The second policy advice is on the monetary side. In the Euro area, we had success in the disinflation effort. We are forecasting now that we hit the target in the second half of 2025. What does that mean for ECB monetary policy? One more cut in the summer of 25 basis points and then keep the rate on hold at 2 percent until — unless major shocks ask for a recalibration of that monetary stance. A bit different in CESEE, where inflation is more persistent and still higher, and there needs to be taken more caution in terms of the easing part.

On fiscal consolidation, fiscal consolidation should continue. Europe needs to build up buffers for the next shock. But also, Europe needs to build fiscal space for long-term spending pressures, which we have on aging, health care, the energy transition, and of course, now an accelerated need is on defense spending.

Final point, focus needs to be on structural reforms. In Europe, we have been making suggestions on reforms which could be taken at the EU level. Draghi Letta, we have a shared diagnostic. We also have an understanding of the policy solutions. These reforms should be undertaken with urgency. We selected a number of key reforms which are under discussion. If we are looking at the benefit of the implementation, it would add 3 percent to the level of GDP in Europe. So, these reforms need to be pushed forward with urgency.

There’s also a need for national structural reforms. There’s lots of benefit to those. Priority in Europe actually is on the labor market side, including on upskilling and reskilling of workers. We put together, country by country, a set of priority reform areas. If countries actually close the gap to the best-performing countries, best-practice countries in these areas by only 50 percent, it would give a boost to the level of GDP by 5 percent for advanced European countries, by 6 to 7 percent for CESEE countries and for the Western Balkan countries, the number is 9 percent increase in GDP. So, the reform areas are discussed, the reform areas are agreed. What now needs to happen is the political will, and that is not easy to overcome vested interests, but it needs to be done because this is to secure the future of Europe. Thank you.

MS. PEREZ: Thanks so much, Alfred. We can now start with your questions. We will go to the room. Please raise your hand when called, identify yourself, name, and outlet. We’re going to get started with the lady sitting here. Thank you. First row.

QUESTIONER: Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. So, in recent weeks financial market has shown increasing pressure on U.S. Treasury while demand on the European debt appears to be rising. Do you believe this shift represents a sustainable trend? And more broadly, do you think that what some have termed European exceptionalism could eventually supplant the American exceptionalism in the global economic and financial order? Thank you.

MR. KAMMER: First, to move to European exceptionalism. It’s still a long and hard road away, and it starts with utilizing the single market in order to create the productivity gains necessary actually to create markets to scale and to create financing to scale so that we get a dynamic business sector going. And that is a must, which needs to be done in order to increase growth, and also, given all of the spending needs coming to secure the European welfare state.

On your other question, we should not overinterpret the shifts which have taken place on the portfolio side over the last few weeks. When markets are adjusting, you would expect rebalancing to take place. At this stage, way too early to say whether there has been a structural shift.

MS. PEREZ: Thank you, Alfred. We’re going to go now to the gentleman in the fourth row with the blue jacket, please.

QUESTIONER: Mr. Kammer, Germany has been very praised here during the Spring Meetings for its new fiscal stimulus package. But in Germany we have a little bit of different discussion. A lot of economists criticize the lack of structural reforms in Germany. Do you have already a first assessment of how the fiscal stimulus package could boost the weak German potential growth? And do you think that the expenditures are in line with the EU fiscal rules, or must the EU fiscal rules be reformed again so that Germany just can spend the money in the end? Thanks.

MR. KAMMER: On your first question, yes, we do. And I hand over to Oya.

MS. CELASUN: Thank you very much. So, you’re asking how the fiscal stimulus will impact the German economy and how it fits in with the broader structural reform agenda. So, it will bring some — blow some energy into the economy after several years of weak growth. We don’t expect the ramp-up in expenditures to be very quick. We expect the peak effect in 2026. Basically in ’25, it will bring some partial offset to the increased drags we are seeing from the trade side from global uncertainty, weak consumer and business confidence. But as we move into 2026 and 2027, it will be a dominant factor offsetting the expected ongoing drag from trade tensions. So, it will certainly lift aggregate demand.

And the part on infrastructure spending is very welcome. For years we’ve pointed to deficient public infrastructure as a factor holding back growth in Germany. So not only will it help growth in the near-term through aggregate demand, but it should have, if fully spent, it should have an effect on lifting potential growth in the long-term as well. It is one of the important areas we see for lifting potential growth as Germany moves into a period with weak growth in its workforce — in fact, a sharp contraction in the coming five years. So that’s very welcome. But there are other important areas. One of them is cutting red tape, actually important for lifting public infrastructure spending as well. It’s important for Germany to be a leader in pushing European integration and also deal with its shrinking labor force by helping women work full-time. Thanks.

MS. PEREZ: Thanks, Oya. We’re —

QUESTIONER: [off mic]

MS. CELASUN: So maybe the important thing to mention is that Germany has fiscal space, it has low debt, it has low deficits, it has low borrowing costs. So that’s very important. We, our own forecasts suggest that Germany, once you exclude defense spending of about 1.5 percent of GDP relative to 2021, will keep its deficits below 3 percent. Thank you.

MS. PEREZ: We’re going to go now to the center. Gentlemen on the second row. Thank.

QUESTIONER: Thank you. In the updated World Economic Outlook, the IMF downgraded its projection for Ukraine up to 2 percent this year compared with the November forecast, which was 2.5-3.5 percent. Could you please elaborate on the aspects that have affected the current forecast? What share of this is due to the global and regional slowdown, domestic factors, war, or external support? And secondly, may I ask you to comment on the issue of debt restructuring for Ukraine? Do you have communication with the Ukrainian government on this, and how do you evaluate the risks for Ukraine if they couldn’t reach a deal on this issue? Thank you.

MS. PEREZ: Let me see if there’s any other questions on Ukraine. The lady in the third row. Thank you.

QUESTIONER: I also want to ask you about the crisis and there are — have many — many different cases, many countries have had their debt written off. And do you recommend the creditors write off part of Ukraine’s debt, and is this option being considered now? Thank you.

MR. KAMMER: So, let me start with a question on growth first. What we are seeing is lower growth momentum carrying forward from 2024. That is a reflection of the bombing of the energy infrastructure and that is hampering the economy. It’s also reflecting a very tight labor market and it’s reflecting continued uncertainty of the length of the war and how the war will evolve and affect the economy. And that is clearly weighing on growth in 2025.

I should say, of course, and emphasize again that the Ukraine economic team, Minister of Finance, Central Bank Governor are doing an extraordinary job to maintain macro stability under these conditions and also to prepare the economy for a post-war reconstruction period. And important for that is the need to work on the medium-term national revenue strategy because Ukraine will need revenue in order to provide all of the necessary service of a modern state and their support the reconstruction. So, I think that’s very important. But praise again for the economic team to operate and attain macro stability in this difficult situation.

On the debt part, what we are seeing is that there is a credible process underway with private creditors that is proceeding, and that is an important element of the Fund program. So that in the end, under the Fund program, we are going to see that sustainability in Ukraine emerging.

MS. PEREZ: Thank you. We’re going to go to this side of the room. The lady in the second row. Thank you.

QUESTIONER: Hi, good morning. A question on the UK. There’s a lot of speculation in the UK about a potential trade deal with the U.S. Will it make any difference to growth? And our finance minister was on the radio this morning saying our trading relationship with Europe was arguably even more important because they’re nearer to us. Do you agree with that?

MR. KAMMER: Helge?

MR. BERGER: We agree with everybody who concludes that more trade is better than less trade. We understand that trade has been sort of in the past and will be in the future, I’m sure, an engine for growth and productivity improvements. So, in that spirit, sort of any trade agreements that the UK will be concluding with any country going forward that will improve sort of the trading relationships that they already have are very welcome. And we would generally encourage all countries to follow this path.

MS. PEREZ: Thank you. We’re going to go. The gentleman in the second row.

QUESTIONER: Hi. I was just wondering, during the meetings this week, there seem to be differing opinions among European leaders about the prospects of a trade deal with the United States. The French saying they think perhaps a deal might be some way off. The Germans expressing more optimism. I just wondered from your vantage point how important you think it is that a deal be done for growth for the European Union and for Europe more broadly. Thank you.

MR. KAMMER: Yeah, so clearly our message is more trade is better. Trade tensions are bad for growth. And so, we are encouraging to have constructive negotiations. And the U.S. is a large trading partner of the European Union, so we are hoping that there will be successful negotiations taking place. And in our discussions with European leaders, I don’t sense any difference of views with regard to the importance of that relationship and that an effort needs to be made to de-escalate and to negotiate a deal.

MS. PEREZ: We’re going to go online now. Go ahead please. You can unmute yourself.

QUESTIONER: Good morning. Thank you so much. Trade between Russia and Europe has shrunk dramatically due to sanctions and counter-sanctions. How does the IMF characterize the current state of Russia-Europe trade flows? Are we essentially seeing a permanent decoupling of the Russian economy from its European trading partners, or are there still significant economic interactions that could influence the outlook? Moreover, what does the IMF foresee for the future of these trade relations? Is any normalization expected within the forecast horizon, taking into account U.S. tariffs, or will they remain at minimal levels? Thank you.

MR. KAMMER: So, it would be speculative on my side to pronounce on what the future will bring with regard to the European Russian relations. Fact is that there has been a decoupling taking place, or trade has been reduced quite considerably. And Russia, in response, has increased domestic production, import substitution, and reoriented trade relations, in particular to China and India. So that has taken place. When we are looking at the Russian economy, what we are seeing is a quite sharp slowdown this year from last year’s growth, and that shows the strain the war is imposing on the Russian economy. Importantly, what we see is if this isolation of Russia is going to continue, it will impact, of course, on the transfer of technology. And we are forecasting that potential growth in Russia has fallen significantly to 1.2 percent. And with such a potential growth rate, it will not converge to Western European living standards. Thank you.

MS. PEREZ: Thanks. We’re going to go with the first row. The gentleman in the jacket, please.

QUESTIONER: Thank you. Italy’s growth forecast was cut in half, almost from 0.7 to 0.4. Was it just on account of trade or for other factors? And if you have any policy recommendation for the government. And also, another question on the ECB, you are recommending that they cut 2 percent. Most economists expect the rate to go down below 2 percent. Are you suggesting they should stay at that level.

MR. KAMMER: Yeah, maybe I’ll start with the ECB question, and Helge can take the question on the growth performance of Italy. So, what we are seeing is that inflation is coming down as expected. The uncertainty at this stage is at the wage side. But here we also see a slowdown, and we are expecting wages to converge to projections by the end of this year. And the bottom line of this is that we expect that the inflation target of 2 percent will be sustainably met in the second half of 2025. We will see that headline inflation may be a bit below and that reflects the impact of lower energy prices. We will see that core inflation may stay a bit above 2. The bottom line on our side is we are looking at a monetary policy stance which will maintain sustainably this inflation rate at 2 percent. And we are seeing that can be achieved with another 25-basis point cut and then hold at 2 percent. We don’t see a need for going lower than 2 percent.

This, of course, is subject to major shocks affecting the monetary policy stance in the future. We should not forget. And we are emphasizing major shocks because the impact on monetary policy on inflation is not going to become evident within the first 18 months. So, this is a long-term endeavor whenever you are changing the monetary stance.

MS. PEREZ: Helge.

MR. BERGER: Italy. So, thanks for the question. The downgrade as in 2025, this year, 2.4 from 0.7, and next year from 0.9 to 0.8, is roughly in line what we have seen in other countries. So, there are two factors at play. One is the trade tensions. They have a direct element, so there’s an exposure to tariffs. But there’s also trade uncertainty. And this uncertainty has also left its marks on financial conditions which have tightened. So, all these factors sort of slow down growth.

In ’26, the downgrade is a bit lower because some of these effects are less urgent. But we also do have some countervailing factors such as the NRP public investment surging as the program comes to an end. And that’s something we welcome. The government is making good progress in this area, and we like the public investment and reforms attached to it. It is also clear that after ’26, when this program is over, there is an opportunity to ramp up domestic structural reforms. The country has a comprehensive agenda which we encourage it to continue on. That includes reforms in education and upskilling, includes business environment reforms. And finally, labor market participation is a perennial issue in Italy, as we heard. It’s also an issue in other countries, but I think Italy is part of this.

MS. PEREZ: Thank you. We’re going to go towards the back of the room. The lady in the light green jacket, please.

QUESTIONER: Thank you. I would like to ask about Turkish economy. In the World Economic Outlook report, unlike most countries, we see a slight upward revision in Türkiye’s growth forecast this year. And the country’s economic growth is also projected to accelerate next year. How do you assess the current state of Turkish economy? Also, how does the IMF view the country’s progress in controlling inflation?

MR. KAMMER: Yeah, so what we are seeing under growth performance is to some extent a carryover from a very strong momentum in the second half of 2024. And that led to a growth upgrade, a small one, but compensating. And that is important for the negative impact of tariffs and uncertainty on the outlook.

With regard to the government’s disinflation program that is moving forward. The economic team is implementing disinflation program. Our recommendation remains, disinflation should happen faster and that requires a tighter macroeconomic policy mix. And the linchpin of that needs to be tighter fiscal policy. And why do we advocate that? The longer the disinflation effort is dragging out the longer the time of vulnerability and being hit by shocks which we don’t know yet to even think about it. So, disinflation program accelerate linchpin is tied to fiscal policy.

MS. PEREZ: Thank you. We’re going to go with the gentleman on the fifth row. Thank you.

QUESTIONER: Good afternoon. Mr. Kammer, you strongly advocate trade agreements between Europe and other countries. As you well know, France is quite reluctant to sign the Mercosur Agreement. The whole political spectrum is very reluctant, saying that there are issues on farming and environment. What would you say to convince France and other maybe reluctant countries to sign this Mercosur Agreement?

MR. KAMMER: Yeah, I would say first, it’s not just Mercosur. Mercosur is one aspect. There are other trade agreements in place. And when you’re looking at the success of technology and of trade in terms of lifting up living standards globally, is just immense. It’s not just putting people out of poverty, it is helping the rich world also grow richer.

There’s no question that whenever you have technological changes or when you are getting rid of trade barriers, that some sectors and some industries and the people working there will be negatively affected. And on that our recommendation has always been and continues to be, and this has to be a continuous focus when you’re looking at the transformation which will be triggered by technological progress and artificial intelligence in particular, to make sure that the people have a social safety net to fall into. It’s one part.

But then also, and that is as important, and that needs to be strengthened, to upskill skills of the labor force so that they find jobs in growing new dynamic sectors. And that has to be a focus. If I see one model which works and worked very well in the global economy, it’s the Flexicurity program in Denmark, which allows workers to move to jobs quickly, including getting the reskilling and upskilling. And I think that needs to be the focus.

But it’s very clear we need to take care of those who are displaced and who are losing their jobs. And we know how to do this, but it needs to be done.

MS. PEREZ: Thank you. We’re going to go to the first row here, please.

QUESTIONER: Thank you. In the context of European and European market integration, do you see that it’s possible Bulgaria to become next member of the euro area in the next year? Thank you.

MR. KAMMER: The answer is definitely yes. But Helge, you may want to elaborate.

MR. BERGER: Thanks for the setup. So, yes, we’re following this closely, of course. I think it’s clear that Bulgaria has made major progress towards fulfilling the conditions for the access to the eurozone. We have seen deficits in line with the EU fiscal framework of 3 percent. We have seen inflation coming down. So, the next step is for the European authorities to speak to this, the European Commission, the ECB, will speak to accession and then we expect the process to continue.

From our end, this would be a welcome step for the country. EU accession, sorry, euro accession means lower trading costs, more beneficial environment for the FDI flows, and so on. So, there’s, there are a lot of upsides for the country, but of course it should enter strongly, just as strongly as it has performed in the last few years. That means sort of taking care of fiscal policy, remain prudent, have an open eye on any financial sector risks that could come, including from accession, and last, not least, sort of work to complete the structural form agenda that the government has. You know, you want to enter the euro, but you want to enter it on a strong footing.

MS. PEREZ: Thank you. We’re going to go online now. Olena, please unmute yourself.

QUESTIONER: Hi, everyone. I have a question related to Europe. Although you mentioned that increased defense spending is an upside risk, do you think that trade wars and tariffs can undermine its role for growth on European continent? And if we compare, how do you evaluate the implementation of your policy recommendations by Europe comparing to the previous outlook?

MR. KAMMER: Sorry, I didn’t get the last part.

QUESTIONER: How do you evaluate the implementing of policy recommendations in Europe comparing to your previous outlook?

MR. KAMMER: Okay, good. So, clearly tariffs do have an impact and the longer they last, the more pronounced the impact will be, including on the medium-term outlook. And therefore, our call on talking in terms of de-escalating and negotiating agreements, but also in general the idea of trade matters and more trade is better to look for new opportunities to lower trade barriers.

When it comes to our recommendations with regard to Europe, I would say on the macroeconomic front, both on the monetary policy side and also on the fiscal policy side, the right steps were taken, and the right steps are being implemented. And clearly, on the monetary policy side, they are already showing the results. Monetary policy, again, showed that it works in order to bring inflation down. That was doubted at one point in time over the last few years.

Where we seem to be repeating our policy recommendations is under EU reforms and also under structural reform sides. And those reform areas are more difficult to tackle. They are facing political economy considerations and resistance. And so, clearly what we are happy about is that there is a shared diagnostic and there is a shared understanding of the policy solutions.

And I could tell you in our discussion with the European policymakers during these meetings, that is the case. They all agree on the diagnostics and they all agree also on what needs to be done on the policy solution side. And what we discussed was, so how to actually do it. There’s willingness to do it, but it is some of the things are technical. But there’s a lot of resistance, of course, from certain sectors and in certain countries towards change. And what one needs to consider is maybe have a bigger approach to that and to start not discussing and negotiating just individual areas of reform where you have perceived winners and losers, but to think about more of a package deal where everybody can see something which is a win situation, and they need to make compromise on other parts.

I think on our side, what we are trying to do in messaging, it is very little understood, and it’s not really communicated by policymakers and politicians of the huge value an integrated single market is created for Europe. You usually hear a point towards net contribution to a very small European budget, which is 1 percent of European GDP. That is just a rounding mistake in the bigger scheme of things, of what wealth that single market already has created for all of the member countries and what it can create in the future by deepening this market. And I think that is something where we are trying to help policymakers with, to change that narrative that Europe is a burden. No. Europe is a winner for all the 27 countries which are participating in the European Union. And I think that’s an important message to make.

MS. PEREZ: Thank you. We’re running out of time, so we’ll take one or two more questions. We’re going to go with the gentleman on the fifth row, please.

QUESTIONER: Thanks. I have two questions. One is, could you a little bit elaborate more on your policy advice? For example, in Austria we have a big debate about should wage costs go down in order to bring back industry. But if I’m correct, I hear that you see more potential in kind of a stronger integration in Europe.

And my second question is, I was just at the Peterson Institute where they said basically that this 10 percent appreciation of the euro versus the dollar is more or less equivalent to the 20 percent additional tax. So what was your assumption on the exchange rate of the dollar and the euro? And is there a danger that this might lead to more trouble if the dollar keeps getting weaker? Thanks.

MR. KAMMER: Mm-hmm. Oya, do you want to take this question?

MS. CELASUN: Sure. On the Austrian side, basically what we have, we’ve recently concluded a consultation with Austria and the reforms that we found to be the most important ones were to lift female and elderly labor force participation because Austria, like others, is aging rapidly. And for that, childcare and elder care availability and access are very important. Also, Austria is yet another country where we would see a strong push, we would like to see a strong push for European integration. Especially the regulatory growth financing environment for startups need to be bolstered and that those require, in our view, reforms at the European level.

On the second side, I don’t think I caught everything.

MR. KAMMER: Okay. So, on the euro, first of all, we shouldn’t translate swings and volatility into long-term trends. We need to be careful about that. But, of course, the exchange rate will have an impact on Europe, including on the inflation outlook, if persistent. But what I would point towards is, there is a narrative out there that Europe is not competitive. And that narrative is actually wrong. Europe is competitive. Europe has a current account surplus versus the rest of the world. What we are arguing is that Europe has a gap in its productivity and in particular a gap in labor productivity. And it is that to focus on in order to actually create more income. And that’s the important stuff.

Now, how to deal with changes in the external environment. The key message to Europe for that is external shocks are going to persist. Transformations will have to take place because technology is moving, energy security needs to be established. The green transition is a key policy priority for Europe. And for that we need a more dynamic business sector. And we don’t have that in Europe. When you’re looking at startups in particular, it’s not that Europe doesn’t have the capacity to innovate, it does. Does Europe have the startups? Europe has the startups. But we don’t have the environment for these startups to flourish. They don’t need bank loans, bank loans need collateral. And many of the startups are in the intellectual sphere in terms of what they’re providing. And so, what you need for that is risk capital, equity and venture capital for those startups to move forward. Many will die, but there will be winners, and they need to scale up. And for that you need to have this risk capital. And what happens right now is they’re going to the U.S. for that. And that’s one part of the business dynamism which is actually taken away from Europe because companies cannot scale up. We have these internal barriers.

And companies cannot scale up because we have the financial barriers. And the financial barriers are, in Europe, we don’t have deep capital markets which can provide debt risk capital to these young startups. We have an abundance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe and when you’re looking at comparison to the U.S. these small and medium term and medium sized enterprises, they are old, and their productivity is not that high. But the young spectrum is missing. And when we have successes, then you need to for these success stories to have the market to operate in and scale up. We don’t yet. And you need the capital for those companies to grow to scale. And again, many of these companies who reach that state, they list at the New York Stock Exchange because European capital markets are too small.

So, if I point towards a big issue in order to address many of the problems we are seeing in the future, it must be a more dynamic business sector, including more exit of firms which are not viable.

MS. PEREZ: Thank you so much. I’m afraid we’re going to have to leave it here, but please do come to us bilaterally for the questions we couldn’t take. I would like to thank our speakers and thank you here, joining us, and colleagues joining us online with this. We can wrap it up. Have a good day everyone.

MR. KAMMER: Thank you.

* * * * *

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Camila Perez

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

@IMFSpokesperson

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/04/25/tr-04252025-eur-press-briefing-transcript

MIL OSI

MIL OSI Russia News –

April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Press Briefing Transcript: African Department, Spring Meetings 2025

Source: IMF – News in Russian

April 25, 2025

PARTICIPANTS:

Speaker: ABEBE AEMRO SELASSIE, Director, African Department, IMF

Moderator: KWABENA AKUAMOAH-BOATENG, Communications Officer, IMF

* * * * *

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to all of you here in the room and those joining us online. My name is Kwabena Akuamoah-Boateng. I am with the Communications Department of the IMF, and

I will be your moderator for today.

Welcome to today’s press briefing on the Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa. I am pleased to introduce Abebe Aemro Selassie, Director of the IMF’s African Department. Abebe will share key insights from our new report titled Recovery Interrupted.

But before I turn to Abebe, a reminder that we have simultaneous interpretation in French and Portuguese, both online and in the room. And the materials for this press briefing, the report, are all available online at IMF.org/Africa. Abebe, the floor is yours.

MR. SELASSIE: Good morning and good afternoon to colleagues joining us from the region and beyond. Thank you for being here today for the release of our April Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Six months ago, I highlighted our region’s sluggish growth, and the steep political and social hurdles governments had to overcome to push through essential reforms. Today, that fragile recovery faces a new test: the surge of global policy uncertainty so profound it is reshaping the region’s growth trajectory.

Just when policy efforts began to bear fruit, with regional growth exceeding expectations in 2024, the region’s hard-won recovery has been overtaken by a sudden realignment of global priorities, casting a shadow over the outlook. We now expect growth in Sub-Saharan Africa to ease to 3.8 percent in 2025 and 4.2 percent in 2026, marked down from our October projections, and these have been driven largely by difficult external conditions: weaker demand abroad, softer commodity prices, and tighter financial markets.

Any further increase in trade tensions or tightening of financial conditions in advanced economies could further dampen regional confidence, raise borrowing costs further, and delay investment. Meanwhile, official development assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to decline further, placing extra strain on the most vulnerable population.

These external headwinds come on top of longer-standing vulnerabilities. High debt levels constrain the ability of many countries to finance essential services and development priorities. While inflationary pressures have moderated at the regional level, quite a few countries are still grappling with elevated inflation, necessitating a tighter monetary stance and careful fiscal policy.

Against this challenging backdrop, our report underscores the importance of calibrating policies to balance growth, social development, and macroeconomic stability. Building robust fiscal and external buffers is more important than ever, underpinned by credibility and consistency in policymaking.

In particular, there is a premium on policies to strengthen resilience: mobilize domestic revenue, improve spending efficiency, and strengthen public finance management and fiscal framework and fiscal frameworks to lower borrowing costs. Reforms that enhance growth, improve the business climate, and foster regional trade integration are also needed to lay the groundwork for private sector-led growth. High growth is imperative to engender the millions of jobs our region needs.

A strong, stable, and prosperous Sub-Saharan Africa is important for its people but also the world. It is the region that will be the main source of labor and incremental investment and consumption demand in the decades to come. External support as the region goes through its demographic transition is of tremendous strategic importance for the future of our planet.

The Fund is doing its part to help, having dispersed over $65 billion since 2020 and more than $8 billion just over the last year. Our policy advice and capacity development efforts support more countries still.

Thank you and I’m happy to answer your questions.

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: Thank you, Abebe. Before we turn to you for your questions, a couple of ground rules, please. If you want to ask a question, raise your hand, and we’ll come to you. Identify yourself and your organization and please limit it to one question. For those online, you can use the chat function, or you can also raise your hand, and then we’ll come to you. I will start from my right.

QUESTIONER: Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. You mentioned several things in your report. The recovery that is going on the continent as well as some of the challenges that the continent is facing and the dividends that the continent currently has in its youth. Leaders on the continent are working — I was at an event yesterday where they are looking at ways to raise funds to develop projects. So, what is your recommendation for projects? We’re seeing a need for projects like this as well as revenue mobilization on the continent. So, is your recommendation to leaders on the continent on how to source these funds that are needed, given that some of the advanced economies are cutting back?

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: All right, any related questions before we go to Abebe?

QUESTIONER: Abebe, you just made the point that the recovery has been hit by these uncertainties. Beyond just policy direction, is there any scope to do anything in terms of, for example, maybe you dispense some money though, but maybe a little more to expect — to countries that are coming off defaults and what have you to help in this recovery, even at such a time? This is also aided by, beyond the fact that some are coming, they have no buffers whatsoever. And then, coming from defaults, things become very difficult for some of these countries to even have the money to do this. Could there be any extra funding, even if on a regional level, to back the policy prescriptions that you have proposed?

MR. SELASSIE: I think there’s two different points here. The first one is more of a broader meta point, whether financing is the only constraint that is hindering more investment, more robust economic activity, and job creation. Of course, financing plays a role, but it is not the only constraint. It depends on country-to-country circumstances, what sectors we are talking about. But it really is important to recognize that there are many other things that can be done to engender higher growth to facilitate more investment.

One of the issues that we have seen in our region over the years is that a lot of growth has –in many countries– been driven by public spending and public investment for many years. That, of course, has made a major contribution. It has facilitated all the investment that we have seen in infrastructure, building schools, building clinics. So, that has a role to play. But I would say that going forward it will be as important to see if we can find ways in which the private sector is the main engine of growth. So, there are reforms that can be done to facilitate this growth.

The second one I am sensing from both your questions is about the circumstance right now where a combination of cuts in aid [and] tighter financing conditions are causing dislocation [and difficulties for governments. We have been, more than anybody else, stressing just what a difficult environment our governments have been facing. We have been talking about the brutal funding squeeze that countries are under. It has ebbed a little bit and flowed, you know, like the external market conditions, for example. There have been periods when they have been opened and some of our market access countries have been able to borrow, and then other periods where they have been closed, and we are going through one right now. And this is on top of the cuts in aid that we have seen and tighter domestic financing conditions.

When this more cyclical point is playing out, I think it’s important for countries to be a bit more measured in how they are seeking to tackle their development needs. So, maybe it means a bit more relying on domestic revenue mobilization, expenditure prioritization when conditions are particularly difficult as they are now, and, as I said earlier, going back to see what can be done to find ways to engender growth over the medium-term. But it is a difficult period, as we note in our report, and one that is causing quite a bit of dislocation to our countries.

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: I will come to the middle. The lady in the front.

QUESTIONER: My first question is around recovery, of course, your reports are called “interrupted”. So, with recovery slipping, growth downgraded, debt pressures mountain, is Sub-Saharan Africa at risk of another lost decade? Because in your report you mentioned that the last four years have been quite turbulent for Africa, and we are trying to get back on track. What is IMF’s message on bold actions that leaders must take now to avoid being left behind in the global economy and to avoid Africa being in a permanent state of vulnerability? Because we always hear that we are in a permanent state of vulnerability. Then for Nigeria, macros are under threat right now. How can the government — what are your suggestions on how the government can actually push through deep reforms that deliver tangible growth for its people? Of course, for your report, you did mention the millions and millions of people that you know live below $2.15 a day.

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: Any more Nigeria questions? I will take the gentleman right here.

QUESTIONER: In your report you said that debt has stabilized. And when you look at Nigeria’s debt profile, what insights can you share as to where the borrowings are going to? Are you seeing more of long-term loans or short-term loans? So that’s one. So, what — recently the World Bank expressed concerns about the performance of Nigeria’s statistical body, saying that the institution is performing Sub optimally. Do you share that sentiment? Thank you very much.

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: I will take one more on Nigeria. The gentleman in the first row.

QUESTIONER: I [would] like to know in specific terms, Nigeria has already undertaken several reforms, especially removed oil subsidies and floated the naira. What more specific things do you expect of Nigeria in terms of reform?

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: All right, thank you. Abebe?

MR. SELASSIE: So, in terms of the reforms that have been going on in Nigeria and the particularities of the challenge, the first thing to note is that we have been really impressed by how much reforms have been undertaken in recent years. Most notably, trying to go to the heart of the cause of the macroeconomic imbalances in Nigeria, which are related to the fact that, oil subsidies were taking up a very large share of the limited tax revenues that the government have and not necessarily being used in the most effective way to help the most vulnerable people. The issues related to the imbalances on the external side with the exchange rate extremely out of line.

So it’s been really good to see the government taking these on, head-on, address those, and also beginning to roll out the third component of the reforms that we have been advocating for and of course, the government has been pursuing, which is to expand social protection, to target generalized subsidies to help the most vulnerable. This has all been very good to see, but more can be done, particularly on the latter front, expanding social protection and enhancing a lot more transparency in the oil sector so that the removal of subsidies does translate into flow of revenue into the government budget. So, there is still a bit more work to do in these areas.

We just had a mission in Nigeria where there was extensive discussions on these and other issues on the macroeconomic area, but also other areas where there is a need to do reforms to engender more private sector investment and also how more resources can be devoted to help Nigeria generate the revenues it so desperately needs to build more schools, more universities, and, of course, more infrastructure. So, there is a comprehensive set of reforms that Nigeria can pursue that would help engender more growth and help diversify the economy away from reliance on oil. And this diversification is, of course, all the more important given what we are seeing happening to commodity prices. So, I think this is an important agenda.

Second, as the government is doing this, of course there will be a financing need. And here what is needed is really a judicious and agile way of dealing with the financing challenges the country faces. In the long run, the financing gap can only be filled by permanent sources such as revenue mobilization. But in the interim, carefully looking at all the options the country must borrow in a contained way will be part of that solution. And I think the government has been going about this prudently and cautiously so far, and we are encouraged by that.

And lastly, on data issues in Nigeria we really applaud the effort the government’s making to try and revise and upgrade data quality in Nigeria. This task is not an easy one in our countries, given the extent of informality there is, given the extent of relative price changes that play out in our economies. So doing this cautiously is what is needed methodically. And that is exactly what we see happening. We welcome, though, the efforts the government is making because without good data, it is difficult to make good policies. So, we really applaud the effort the government is making to try and upgrade data quality.

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: We will take a round of questions online.

QUESTIONER: There are bills in the UK Parliament and the New York State Assembly that aim to force holdout private creditors to accept debt treatments on comparable terms to other creditors and to limit or stop such litigation. Are these bills needed, do you think, or is the current international debt architecture sufficient? So, you know, IMF, DSAs, creditor groups, the common framework, where applicable.

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: Please go ahead with your question.

QUESTIONER: Earlier this month, the IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Burkina Faso to complete the Third Review of the country’s program. So as part of the review, the IMF allowed a greater fiscal flexibility, allowing Burkina Faso to raise its public deficit target to 4 percent, up from the 2 percent cap set by the West African Economic Monetary Union. So, given that the country’s challenges, such as persistent insecurity, high social demands, are common across the region, wouldn’t it be wiser to consider applying this flexibility more broadly to the West African Economic Monetary Union? And my second question will be about the downward revision of the growth forecast for 2025 and 2026 in Sub-Saharan Africa. Does the IMF view this new crisis – I am talking about the global uncertainty and the recent U.S. tariff measures. Does the IMF view this crisis as potentially more severe and with broader consequences for the region than previous shocks such as COVID and the war in Ukraine?

MR. SELASSIE: On the first question on debt workouts and the challenges there, I am not fully informed about the specifics of the bills that Rachel, you are talking about, indeed, we have seen from time to time some private creditor groups holding out, trying to hold out, but I am not sure that a bill is what’s needed, but rather, force of argument to try and bring people to the table. And in recent restructurings, at least I am not aware of this being the main hindrance in advancing discussions. There have been many other factors, including just the complexity of the current creditor landscape, that have played a role.

On Burkina Faso, flexibility under the program or the deficit targets for the WAEMU countries more generally, just it is important to distinguish between particular years’ fiscal deficit targets that the government wants to pursue and we, incorporate in the program and just the more medium-term criteria, convergence criteria that there is for the WAEMU countries.

So, the 3 percent target criteria are for the medium- to long-term. And it has been very clear that when there are shocks or when there are pressing social development needs, countries do have the scope to deviate from that. In fact, often the constraint on the Sahel countries has been not having enough, sufficient, enough financing to be able to meet these to advance development objectives. The other constraint of course is that overall, the more you exceed this 3 percent target and add to the overall debt burden, the more you are going to have – you are likely to build up debt vulnerabilities.

So, in the work that we do with countries, whether it is Burkina Faso or other WAEMU countries or indeed beyond, what we try and help with is of course to help countries strike this balance between addressing the immediate and pressing needs that they have while avoiding medium-term debt sustainability problems. I think one is just thinking about how to strike this balance. And then second, we put resources on the table very cheaply to help countries, avoid, at least in the near term, more difficult financing difficulties. So, for Burkina and others, it is just about striking this balance.

And on growth, whether this latest shock is as bad for the region as the previous ones. I think it is really important also to point out that as difficult, I mean the last four or five years have been incredibly difficult time for our countries, a lot of challenges, a lot of dislocation, but there is also been quite a lot of resilience, and I think that is important to stress. I would note that, even now, it is this year, 11 out of the 20 fastest growing economies in the world are from Sub-Saharan Africa. So, there are quite a lot of countries that are going to be sustaining significant growth in the region. So, we should also not lose sight of this resilience.

Second, and more broadly, the buildup of uncertainties I think is very negative. And this is interrupting what we are seeing in terms of a recovery. But growth is not, we are not projecting growth to collapse. And our hope is that as things calm down, the region can resume its growth trajectory also.

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: We will take three more questions online, then we will come back to the room.

QUESTIONER: I wanted to know about Senegal, in terms of whether funds would be repaid after the misreporting of data and if the IMF has learned anything from that? And also, just if you can, the status of the IMF’s programs and even operations in Sudan and South Sudan?

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: Please go ahead.

QUESTIONER: The IMF is urging countries to focus on domestic revenue mobilization. But you may have seen that South Africa’s Finance Minister has withdrawn the VAT increase that he had proposed in the budget, in the face of opposition from coalition partners. Does the IMF see any alternative sources of revenue that are feasible for the South African government as the parties hoped? And are there any lessons here for other countries trying to mobilize domestic revenue?

QUESTIONER: Building on the question that Hilary has asked that the REO does make the case for domestic revenue mobilization, and you made that argument, I believe, in the last two Regional Economic Outlook reports as well. But poverty is still endemic. Incomes, as far as I can tell, have not really recovered to pre-pandemic levels. So other than broadcast to tax exemptions what else can be done to raise tax-to-GDP ratios? One last question on this. Has there been any progress that has been made in the Sovereign Debt Roundtable in deciding how debt from Afreximbank, and Trade and Development Bank should be treated, at least under the common framework for countries like Ghana and Zambia? Now, do they qualify to not have their debt restructured in the same way that the IMF, the World Bank’s credit lines?

MR. SELASSIE: On Senegal, I was recently in Dakar for discussions building on work that our team has been doing. What we are waiting for is the government to finalize the work that’s ongoing. Right now, the audits are going on and reconciliation work is going on.

On the extent of domestic and external debt. We have been very clear in welcoming the transparency and really robust and collegial way in which the government has been engaging on the issues that have arisen in the misreporting case and we look forward to the numbers stabilizing, and engaging in discussions on the next steps in terms of bringing the, the findings to our Executive Board and next steps in our engagement with Senegal.

On South Sudan, it has just been a difficult period of course for South Sudan. They have been hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing from the conflict in the north. The conflict has also interrupted, disrupted heavily their main source of tax revenue, oil exports through the pipeline. So, it’s been a really wrenching period. Over the last three, four years we have provided, you know, we have been trying to provide South Sudan with emergency financing and trying to find a way in which we can engage with a more structured longer-term program. We remain hopeful that we are going to be able to do that. But first and foremost, I think we need to see what can be done to make sure that the policy making environment is as robust and as strong as it is, and as transparent, so we can come in, step in and support South Sudan.

On revenue mobilization, I want to just first link this to the point I made earlier that what we have observed and again there is a risk of generalizing, but what we’ve observed over the last 10, 15 years in the region is that governments have made a very significant effort to invest in really important infrastructure needs in building schools, in building health clinics and much else. And you see very positive outcomes. Look at the electricity coverage in our region, look at the human development indicators and how much they have moved over the years in the region.

But we have also seen that despite a lot of investment, for example, in electricity generation capacity and electricity coverage in our countries, many roads are being built. The returns of all this investment have not been captured in the tax revenue, which is one of the points, the pressure points where debt levels have gone up and the interest-to-revenue ratio. So, the interest payment-to-revenue ratio has also been rising. And this has been one of the key points of vulnerability in many economies and why a few countries have gotten into debt difficulty and needed to restructure.

So going forward, I think it’s very clear that to be able to continue investing; to be able to continue expanding economies and the government doing its core function, it has to find more ways other than borrowing to address this.

Now, in the past, governments have been quick to cut spending, and that has, we found, again and again, to be very detrimental to development progress and growth outcomes. I think this, again, at the risk of generalizing, was the approach that was generally pursued in the 1980s and found to be very problematic, very challenging, very depressing to growth. So, we would very much love for countries to avoid this. When there are pressing spending needs, there’s generally only a couple of ways that you can finance this. Spending cuts or revenue mobilization. You can borrow, of course, but as I said, borrowing is not optimal.

Now, this doesn’t mean revenue mobilization is easy. Far, far from it. It requires not only political engagement, but also a lot of communication, a lot of effort to show that the resources the government is trying to generate are going to be going to the right areas to help strengthen the social contract. So, it’s a deep and engaged process, and we are very, very cognizant of that. But I do think that this is the most optimal way, the most economically sensible way in which our countries can help address the tremendous development needs that we have.

Now, specifically on South Africa, ultimately when issues like this arise, these are deeply domestic political issues to be resolved as to what the best way to do the financing is. So, if a tax rate increase for a particular tax is not possible, then maybe finding ways to expand the tax base, maybe trying different tax angles or if all of those are not possible, then revisiting spending priorities may be one of the ways that countries must handle this. And this is typically what we see playing out in countries in the region when financing constraints are binding.

So, whether it is in Kenya, South Africa, or other countries the issue of revenue mobilization is a live one, but one that is extremely complex. We are very cognizant of that. And one that requires quite a lot of consensus building, quite a lot of discussion to be able to advance, and of course, broader societal support. And we absolutely see countries engaging in this and do what we can to help bring lessons from other countries where we are asked to.

Then there was a question about the GSDR. So, this Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, this is the initiative launched by the Fund and the Bank to try and bring creditors and debtors together around the table to find ways in which debt work[outs] can be easier because you are discussing general principles rather than country-specific debt restructuring issues. And we have seen this making quite a lot of progress. Perhaps the most recent development has been the preparation of a debt work[out] playbook that is a very helpful document that has been put out building on the experience of recent work[outs]. What has worked particularly well. What kind of information sharing ahead of debt work[outs] have been helpful in terms of accelerating debt processes. Debt restructurings are one of the most contentious and challenging issues that there are between states, between creditors and debtors, and it requires quite a lot of discussion, and it is not such an easy thing to do, including what the parameter of debt should be. I think one of the questions that was raised is about the debt parameter. This is fundamentally an issue for the debtor countries and creditors to resolve, and intra-creditor disputes also have to be done.

So, in terms of the principles that generally we see creditors apply when these kinds of disputes arise about what the right parameter should be or not and who gets preferential treatment. I think there’s generally been two rules of thumb. One is that the terms in which new financing is being provided or the financing is provided, whether it’s commercial or concessional has been a factor that most creditors look at in terms of whether a particular credit should be included in the parameter or not, and then also the extent to which new financing is being made available. So, what differentiates senior creditors like the IMF, the World Bank, of course, is that for most countries we operate providing concessional financing very long-term. And we are the ones that come in and provide financing consistently through crisis and otherwise.

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: We have time for one more round of questions. I will start with the gentleman in the front here.

QUESTIONER: The U.S. is your largest shareholder, and we are seeing mixed messages this week from the Treasury Secretary mentioning that he remains committed to the Fund but also calling on you to hold countries accountable to program performance, empower staff to walk away if reform commitment is lacking.

So, I wanted to ask you, should we expect the IMF spigot to start closing in response to U.S. pressure? Or if not, are you changing your approach to countries, what you are telling them and how to deal with their issues? Are you being a little more stringent in your requirements?

You have talked about Senegal, maybe Ghana, Ethiopia, related to that issue of the U.S stepping in. The CEMAC negotiations this week, we saw American energy companies working with the CEMAC on repatriation of funds dedicated to the rehabilitation of oil sites. I’m wondering if you have a stance on that, what the IMF position is? I understand the U.S is trying to get the IMF involved in that.

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: All right, thanks. Gentleman.

QUESTIONER: Kenyan authorities here have indicated the need to present a credible fiscal framework as they try and unlock a new program for Kenya. Would you offer more color into the discussions this week, noting again that the same credibility questions led to the cancellation or the termination of the program at its final review?

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: We have a question online “what is the IMF’s view on Kenya’s debt position?”

MR. SELASSIE: So, on the first question, I would like to refer you to Kristalina who gave comprehensive responses to the Secretary’s IMFC Statement. What I want to add though is that in the region, in Sub-Saharan Africa, in terms of programs, the calibration of reforms, incorporation of reforms, I would say that we are always in terms of each program has its particularities and what we always try and do in these programs is make sure that we’re striking a balance of helping countries address the long term challenges and also the cyclical challenges that are often the ones that cause them to come to us. And I would say that I don’t think there are many countries that think that the adjustment efforts that they’re being asked to make are easy ones.

On CEMAC. Just to be very clear there is this dispute that is going on between member states, the BEAC, and oil companies with respect to what are called restitution funds. The funds under contracts that countries have with oil companies are meant to be available to help restore the sites where oil is extracted back to their pre-extraction standards.

What has been a bit frustrating is that we are not privy to the contents of these documents. We have been calling on members and the companies involved to be transparent about this, to publish these documents. They are after all documents that are about how countries natural resource wealth are used. And we’ve been on record going seven, eight, nine years pushing for production sharing agreements, the terms of these things to be published so that each side can hold the other accountable. I think that is the first thing that could be done to bring more transparency and light and understanding to the rest of the world about what is going on in these discussions.

Second, we have also made it clear to both parties that given that we do not have full information, it is difficult for us to know what to say. But in general, any encumbrances in terms of how we look at foreign exchange reserves and these standards are published, any encumbrances like the type that we think there may be in the document, i.e., that is the expectation that these resources will be used for specific purposes means they’re not general use reserves. So, they would not be classified as part of reserves.

On Kenya, we have had a very strong engagement with Kenya over the years and will continue to have such engagement going forward. As we have noted, government has asked for a follow-on program to try and address the remaining challenges in Kenya, and we are discussing how to do that including in the context of these meetings.

It has been good to hear and see that the economy has been performing quite well in some parts. Particularly the external adjustment front seems to have been proceeding well. The current account has been narrowing. So, there are quite a lot of strengths. But also of course there remain fiscal challenges which were a significant part of the last program’s objectives that need to be advanced. So, we are going to engage with the government and do everything that we can to be able to help it go forward.

MR. AKUAMOAH-BOATENG: Unfortunately, that is all the time we have. So, if you have any questions that we didn’t get to, please send them to me or to Media at IMF.org and we will try and get back to you as soon as possible. So, also to mention that the report is now available at IMF.org/Africa. The Spring Meetings continue. Later this morning, we have the press briefing for the European Department and later in the afternoon we have the IMFC, and the Western Hemisphere Department press briefings.

On behalf of Abebe and the African and Communications Departments, thank you all for coming to this press briefing and see you next time.

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Kwabena Akuamoah-Boateng

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

@IMFSpokesperson

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/04/25/tr-04252025-african-department-press-briefing-transcript

MIL OSI

MIL OSI Russia News –

April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Press Briefing Transcript: IMFC, Spring Meetings 2025

Source: IMF – News in Russian

April 25, 2025

Speaker:

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF

Mohammed Aljadaan, IMFC Chair, Minister of Finance, Saudi Arabia

Moderator:

Julie Kozack, Director, Communications Department, IMF

Ms. Kozack: I am delighted to have with me the Chair of the IMFC, His Excellency Mohammed Aljadaan. He is also the Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia. And of course, our Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

Minister Aljadaan and the Managing Director will first share some takeaways with you and then when that is concludes we will turn to you for your questions. Your Excellency, the floor is yours.

Minister. Aljadaan: Thank you, Julie. Thank you, Kristalina. And thanks to all of you for being here. At the outset, let me highlight an important development that took place the first time in these meetings, which is the IMFC welcoming its 25th member, the third chair of Africa. Obviously, this is an important milestone that strengthens the voice and representation of the African continent in a global economic dialogue. I would like to thank all members who made this possible.

On the IMF agenda, going forward, the Fund must continue to focus on its core mandate, including supporting international monetary cooperation, encouraging the expansion of trade and economic growth, and discouraging policies that would harm prosperity.

In recent days, the IMFC members welcomed steps to further strengthen the effectiveness of the IMF’s three core functions, its surveillance of global economic trends, its lending where we welcome the review of program design conditionality, and its capacity development assistance, which helps ensure growth in so many member countries and within countries.

Addressing global debt vulnerabilities remains a priority for our members, especially for low‑income and vulnerable countries. They welcome the progress made in debt treatments under the G20 Common Framework. They also express their commitment to addressing global debt vulnerabilities in an effective, comprehensive, and systemic manner.

Members encouraged the IMF and the World Bank to help advance the implementation of the three‑pillar approach to address debt service pressures. We appreciate the tremendous efforts of the members in shaping the medium‑term direction of the IMF and contributing to the Diriyah Declaration.

The Diriyah Declaration represents a forward‑looking approach to strengthening the IMFC process and advancing governance reforms and has received full support from the members. Just to clarify, when I say the Diriyah Declaration, this is the Declaration that was prepared by the Deputies in their meetings in Saudi Arabia earlier this month in preparation for this meeting.

Here we aim to ensure that the Fund remains well‑equipped to meet future challenges in line with its core mandate. Before I hand it over to Kristalina, I have to comment on the topic of the day, which I think a lot of people are talking about, trade tension. Many members have told me how the trade situation has created significant uncertainty. Indeed, the buzz word was uncertainty all over this week, and indeed it also carries with it market volatility, presenting real risks to the global growth and financial stability. But as Kristalina said recently, these threat conflicts have been like forgetting a pot boiling on a stove. Well, now that pot is boiling over. In other words, we should not be surprised that there are trade tensions. And this situation is an opportunity for us all to have constructive conversations about how we will move forward together. This is a challenging time, but I have always been optimist and absolutely make no apologies for that. I will explain to you why. History tells us that the bigger the challenge, the more it requires us to come together to convene and to have an honest conversation. That is exactly what happened this week. That is exactly the power of the IMF to actually be able to convene everybody around the same table in closed rooms and discuss issues in a constructive way.

I have told colleagues, I arrived in Washington a week ago with a lot of noise in my ears from reading the news and following social media. I have told them, everyone that I met in the early days, please keep your thoughts cool, and we will see where we are going to end. Actually, today we are ending in a lot better position than when we started the week. People understand the consequences and are working together in a constructive manner to resolve tensions.

I am also confident that because of the IMF, the IMF is really watching us very closely, following the global situation and is really providing advice to its members in real‑time, offering an assessment of the potential impacts and the best way to proceed.

This week we have seen an incredible assurance confirming the position of the IMF and its convening power and contributing to positive development, including in relation to Syria. Gathering together to talk about Syria and building on our meetings in AIUla has given us a new sense of urgency and purpose, to turn a conflict‑affected state, which is Syria, into a stable and economically successful one, benefiting the region and the world. It is not just about the money. It is about the work that the IMF and other partners can deliver on capacity development, quality data, and timely advice.

Again, I would like to thank Kristalina and the IMF staff. And I can tell you, it was an incredible, unanimous position today to thank the IMF for their incredible, incredible brain cells power, which was able really to produce a very comprehensive report about what is happening in the world in a very short period of time, and it was fantastic. Thank you, Kristalina. Thanks to all the IMF staff and thank you again for being here. The floor is yours.

Managing Director: Thank you very much, Minister Aljadaan, for your kind words now, but above all for your exemplary leadership of the IMFC. I want to tell everybody here that the way you chaired the meetings brought the members together to speak openly, frankly and as a result to find a path to common understanding that is so necessary in the current environment because, as we all know, our meetings take place against a challenging backdrop. You have seen our World Economic Outlook. It shows that the global economy is facing a significant slowdown and also that risks are on the downside.

Understandably Ministers and Governors are concerned, but at the same time they have also exhibited a remarkably constructive spirit in these meetings, coming together, showing willingness to take on the challenges facing the global economy. Minister Aljadaan laid out the substance and achievements of our discussions. Let me add just three points. First, Ministers and Governors agreed on the importance of reducing uncertainty and working together to clarify policies.

Second, importantly, they recognized that they need to seize the moment to put their own houses in order. And I saw very firm resolve to tackle difficult and, in many cases, delayed reforms at home, to strengthen resilience, to remove impediments to productivity and lift up their medium and long‑term growth prospects, and to address underlying domestic imbalances which drive external imbalances. To put it simply, addressing external imbalances starts at home.

Finally, we discussed how the IMF can help countries successfully navigate this period of change and build resilience. I was very heartened to hear from the membership strong support for our work to promote macroeconomic and financial stability and to do it through robust bilateral, multilateral and regional surveillance, be there for our members when they need to cope with balance of payments problems, finance—finance them, but also finance them with the clear objective that they can strengthen their economies. I can say the words of support for our capacity development, in other words, helping countries have strong institutions, strong policies. That support was overwhelming.

At this period of complex challenges for the membership, they also gave us homework. I want to emphasize two areas where we will further deepen our work. One, do more work on external imbalances, dig deeper, when they could become a source of concern and provide advise how to address them through policies. Two, continue to scan the financial sector to identify potential sources of instability, especially in the non‑bank sector, and provide advice on how best to enhance resilience.

Overall, what I can tell you is that what I heard this week was an incredible determination by our members to steer economies through this period of change and uncertainty. And it gave me confidence that we actually can take challenge and make opportunity, that we can have a more resilient, more balanced world economy.

Like Minister Aljadaan, I started the week more anxious of our capacity as a global community to come together, and I finished the week with more confidence that this is exactly what we will do.

Ms. Kozack: Thank you very much, Minister, Managing Director. We will now open the floor to your questions, so please raise your hand if you have a question and please identify yourself and your outlet. I will start here in the middle. I am going to go to the gentleman in the kind of White shirt. Yes, right here.

Question: Thank you, Julie. Question for Minister Aljadaan and Managing Director Georgieva. You both pointed out that we ended a week in a way better position than when we started it. Managing Director, during your Curtain Raiser Speech, you also raised the hope that this week might be an opportunity for everybody to discuss. How do you feel like? Could you elaborate perhaps on how this week dialing down the uncertainty that you talked about and the global tensions when it comes to trade? Thank you very much.

Managing Director: Finding a path to solutions starts from looking at the problem from a—seeing the problem with the same eye view. Let me start this again. To resolve a problem, you have different parties. To resolve a problem, they need to have information about the problem that allows them to have a meaningful conversation. I can say that I am very, very grateful to the staff of the IMF because what we did was to offer the members information that allows them to see what is ahead of them and expand their horizon. If you look at a problem only from a narrow point of view, it is difficult to have a meaningful conversation to resolve it.

Secondly, what I saw was a genuine openness to present views in a candid way and to listen to each other.

Third, and the third is the most important, it is a traction and engagement among members that could then bring a better—faster and better outcome. I do not want to sugarcoat. We still have quite a challenging time. It is challenging not just because of the tariffs and the uncertainty. It is also challenging that there are other transformational forces in play. Because of the overwhelming attention to tariffs, we stopped talking about other things, like artificial intelligence, demographics transition, and I think that that sense that we can have an engagement in a comprehensive way on a complex set of challenges, that came during the meetings quite strongly. Does it mean that everybody agrees with everybody else? No. But do we have an open conversation, engaged conversation with the fair space for everybody to present their views? Yes.

Minister Aljadaan: Thank you. If I may, Julie, I think just to complement the Managing Director’s views, I think overall what do you need to resolve conflicts like this or tensions like this? A, you need to make sure that you understand the parties’ positions, where they are coming from, why they are taking these positions, and what are they seeking to achieve. Second, make sure that they actually talk. And that is largely what happened this week. So to have everybody who is party to all this trade tensions, which is almost everybody, all the members, around the same table in a candid discussion that is closed even—some of it has been in the restricted sessions—to really be open and talk about what are they doing, why they are doing it, what is their view of what is going to happen in the next even short period of time is very assuring. Sharing that information is very assuring. Understanding the implications of these actions on other nations, including low‑income countries, emerging economies and implications of that is actually very helpful for them to appreciate the consequences of their positions.

I can tell you without—I cannot disclose some of the discussion that has taken place, but I can tell you there was a very clear, frank discussion, including a projection of a timeline for a resolution of some of these issues. So that is very assuring.

Managing Director: Can I just add one point, that when people are in the same room, the abstract policies become more human because then we understand these policies are affecting people, and the whole world—the people of the whole world are then present, and that makes the conversation different. No longer it is an academic conversation. It is a very real-life conversation.

Ms. Kozack: Thank you. I will go to this side. I will go to the second row, gentleman with the blue jacket and the glasses.

Question: Thank you so much for taking my question. I am from Bangkok. Your Excellency, you have mentioned uncertainty around the world in your opening remarks. So, I want to ask specifically on the consequences for the emerging markets as a whole, and what is your policy advice for the situation and also do you see any short‑term lasting impacts to these countries? Thank you.

Minister Aljadaan: I will give it a time and then you can complement. First of all, I look forward to our renewal meeting in Thailand next year and seeing the preparations from now, I think a lot of people are excited and waiting for our meetings there. I am sure it will be very constructive in the hospitable country of Thailand and the Kingdom of Thailand.

Obviously emerging economies, particularly emerging economies with limited fiscal space have little room to maneuver to deal with shocks. And even if these shocks have been resolved, there is some lasting impact. The earlier, the faster that these shocks or trade tensions in this context is resolved, the better for everybody. But we are not in a perfect world and things may take time and countries may get an impact, and that is where the IMF excels. That is where is IMF capacity building, advice comes into actual real play. So, the Managing Director is here and her staff with an incredible talent will be able to actually provide that support to emerging economies.

Managing Director: As a group, emerging markets by and large are generally highly open. They rely on—many of them rely on exports as an engine for growth. They are quite active in international bond markets, so because they are highly exposed, the impact on emerging markets is quite significant. Some of the emerging markets, especially those that were in a tougher position after the multiple shocks, also face very limited and some of them non‑existing policy space to act.

We have downgraded growth projections for emerging markets and developing economies to 3.7 percent for 2025. This is a 0.6 percent downgrade. And to 3.9 percent for 2026. What does that mean? It means that some of them would see a significant slowdown in their convergence to higher‑income countries. And they are also seeking ways to overcome the challenges ahead. What works for them is emerging markets have been fantastic in building resilience to shocks. And when I look at the universe of emerging market economies, quite a number of countries have become more agile in their policymaking, are more mature in how they approach their fiscal and monetary policy. That puts them in a better position.

To use an analogy, it is like they have gone through multiple periods of being tested and they got immune to shocks to a certain degree. They would be seeing possibly somewhat less inflationary pressure. Why? Because when you are on the receiving end of tariffs, what it means is that actually domestically you do not have pressure on prices. We can expect emerging markets to look at their policy tools very carefully. We urge them, be very careful with fiscal measures. Do not rush to provide fiscal support willy‑nilly because you cannot afford to lose fiscal space. Have a medium long‑term framework to rebuild this fiscal space. On the monetary policy side, watch pressures. We are saying inflation is likely to slow down but watch it and watch inflation expectations. Do what is necessary, given the data you have. And very important, allow the exchange rate to be a shock absorber.

We have the integrated policy framework that offers advice to countries how to approach exchange rate issues with great care. You are an emerging market. Actually, the Minister is not saying that, but one thing emerging markets can do for themselves is, get your own house in order. Pursue reforms relentlessly because this is what makes you stronger.

Ms. Kozack: We have time for just one last question. So, I am going to go second row, the gentleman in the blue suit.

Question: Thank you, Ms. Kozack. Mr. Aljadaan, Managing Director Georgieva. I am from Lebanon. My question is addressed to both of you. How will the IMF support Syria and what role will it play in Syria’s reconstruction. Thank you.

Ms. Kristalina Georgieva: Minister Aljadaan in the opening recognized that Syria has returned to the international community. We had a meeting with Syrian representatives in AIUla during an emerging market conference. We had a meeting on fragile and conflict‑affected states. And at that time, we made the first step to create a coordinating group so different institutions that can support Syria can start working together. We held a meeting here in Washington during the Spring Meetings. It was co‑chaired by Minister Aljadaan, President Banga and myself, with the Finance Minister and the Central Bank Governor of Syria. In this meeting we discussed how we can start rebuilding institutions and policy capacity in Syria and how different institutions can play on their comparative advantage to help. For the Fund specifically, what it means is, of course, cautiously but engage to first define data, what is available, how we can rebuild credible data capability.

Second, central bank capacity. How can we rebuild the functioning of Syria’s central bank.

Third, tax policy and how can the country rebuild capacity to create revenues for its functions.

We have appointed a Mission Chief for Syria. We have not had Article IV Consultations with Syria for a long, long time. We hope that we can contribute in putting the foundation of knowledge, economic policy knowledge in Syria to get the country back on track.

I mean, just imagine, they have been in a Civil War for 14 years. A big part of the population is not in Syria. They are in Lebanon. They are in Iraq. They are in Jordan. The fabric of the Syrian society is deeply wounded. It is going to take a lot of work by the Syrians themselves to rebuild it. This is when international organizations can play a constructive role. Lebanon, you are not asking about Lebanon.

Question: I heard the meetings went quite well by the end, especially since the Lebanese Parliament voted about the banking sequencing. That is more in line with international standards, so what are you—

Managing Director: You are not asking because you know. That is very good.

Ms. Kozack: Minister, would you like to have the last word?

Minister Aljadaan: I have a few things. First of all, I really thank the IMF and the World Bank in stepping up their support to Syria and other states who are emerging from fragility. Syria in particular is a case where we have an opportunity. We have a government that is willing, and we have regional partners who are also providing support and willing really to provide whatever it takes to make sure that we bring back Syria, support its people and make sure that we also move cautiously through that process, recognizing that obviously there are sanctions that we need to deal with and other impediments. But even with that, I think standing with them, providing capacity support and advice and some regional and bilateral, even financial support is very crucial. The Syrian people deserve that support. And that does not stop at Syria. We are talking about Syria as an example, we have Yemen, we have Palestine, we have Sudan, we have other countries that really need the support, including Lebanon. They need to know that the international community, if they put their act together, the international community will stand by them, so we will continue that.

Ms. Kozack: We are almost five minutes over our time.

Managing Director: Ask your question short, and we will try to answer.

Ms. Kozack: And have a very brief answer.

Managing Director: It is my fault. I am the one that is professorial.

Question: My question is to the MD concerning the global uncertainty on trade tensions shaping sub‑Saharan Africa’s debt risk, servicing costs as well as our fiscal future and its coordination with creditors such as you, so how are Africa also in all of these conversations? Thank you.

Managing Director: As Minister Aljadaan said, Africa was more present this time because we now have three sub‑Saharan African representatives in the IMFC. But beyond that, very much on our minds, quite a number of the Governors of the Fund spoke about the importance to pay attention to countries that are particularly severely affected by this turbulence because they have a high level of debt and that suppresses their ability to cope.

By the way, countries with high level of debt are not just in sub‑Saharan Africa. We have them all over the world.

What has been done during these meetings is threefold. First, very strong emphasis on the three‑pillar approach of the IMF and the World Bank for countries that experience liquidity constraints. They are not yet facing debt sustainability problems, but they are on the way to there. And for these countries to concentrate support for domestic resource mobilization, concentrate attention to how to mobilize more international financing and very important, concentrate on how the private sector can play a bigger role in the economy.

Second, for countries where debt is not sustainable, how to make debt restructuring faster and more effective. We have issued this week a playbook for debt restructuring that was the outcome of the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable. What it shows are the steps that need to be taken.

As you recall under the Common Framework, there was some confusion around how exactly to go about it, what is the timeline, what is the exact sequencing of steps. This is now being clarified. If we follow the playbook, we play by the book, we get debt restructuring in less than 12 months. And the third thing, very important for the Fund, is that our members have put in place a way to expand our capacity to finance low‑income countries through the Poverty Reduction Growth Trust so the Fund can step up financing for countries, so they do not need to—they do not need to go through a super painful adjustment because of this burden of debt. We can ease their path. But, again, we want to see countries act decisively on reforms so they—you do not borrow your way out of debt. You grow your way out of debt. So, when countries have that growth potential enhanced, then they can also reduce debt vulnerability. It was not very short. My apologies.

Ms. Kozack: Minister, would you like to add?

Minister Aljadaan: I am fine. I think the Managing Director did a great job in answering.

Managing Director: Look, you have to forgive me. I was for 14 years a professor. It kicks in.

Minister Aljadaan: We enjoy it, Kristalina

Managing Director: Thank you very much, everybody.

Ms. Kozack: This does bring us to an end, so thank you for joining us. And let me just add that the full transcript of the press briefing will be available online on the IMF website. And, of course, should you have further questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to my colleagues at IMF media.org. Thank you.

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Wafa Amr

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

@IMFSpokesperson

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/04/25/tr-04252025-imfc-press-briefing-transcript

MIL OSI

MIL OSI Russia News –

April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Representatives of the State University of Management became winners of the federal competition “Leaders of Law”

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

The results of the VIII federal scientific and educational competition of draft laws among young lawyers “Leaders of Law” have been summed up; representatives of the State University of Management won.

Over the course of six months and three stages, 50 teams from Moscow, Saratov, Penza, Altai Krai, Nizhny Novgorod, Veliky Novgorod and other regions competed for the title of best legislator. The works were assessed by a strict and competent jury of active judges, prosecutors, justice generals and other highly qualified specialists.

The team of the State University of Education “AzBukiVedi”, headed by the 4th year student of the “Jurisprudence” program Karina Meshcheryakova, presented a draft law on the legal regulation of spiritual and moral security and protection of the Russian language, and in a difficult fight became the winner! The team also included Varvara Yupatova.

Karina Meshcheryakova received a well-deserved winner’s diploma, a certificate from the deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Lyubov Mendeleyeva and was awarded a valuable gift.

In addition, the scientific supervisor of our legislators – candidate of legal sciences, associate professor, associate professor of the Department of Private Law Svetlana Titor was recognized as the winner in the nomination “Mentor in Law”.

But that’s not all! The organizers of the “Leader of Law” competition invited the winners to take part in the XIII St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (youth section), which will be held from May 19 to 21, where our team will be able to present their draft law.

The competition was organized by the Interregional Public Organization of Graduates “Association of Graduates of SYU-SGAP-SGUA” together with the Saratov State Law Academy and the Association of Lawyers of Russia.

Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/25/2025

Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

MIL OSI Russia News –

April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Foreign students of the State University of Management wrote the “Victory Dictation”

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

Today, foreign students of the State University of Management joined the All-Russian historical campaign on the theme of the events of the Great Patriotic War “Victory Dictation”. Students from Algeria, Vietnam, China, Mali, Syria, Great Britain, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Chad, Egypt, Pakistan, Senegal and other countries were united by the main task – preserving the connection between generations and the memory of the events that shook our country almost 80 years ago.

The Victory Dictation consisted of 25 tasks, 15 of which were multiple-choice and 10 were short-answer tasks, and was conducted in the form of testing. The time for writing the “Victory Dictation” was 45 minutes. The questions were about important battles, military leaders, home front workers, the cultural heritage of the war years, as well as about current events in the SVO zone.

Since 2019, the Victory Dictation has been held annually in all regions of the Russian Federation, bringing together schoolchildren, students, and adults. This year, the Victory Dictation was held not only in Russia, but also in 90 countries around the world, bringing together participants at 35,000 venues. The tasks were translated into ten foreign languages. The winners at the federal level will traditionally receive an invitation to the Victory Parade on May 9 on Red Square in Moscow.

“Victory Dictation” has become a truly national project and has become an integral part of the Victory Day celebration. The State University of Management preserves historical memory and a reverent attitude towards the great heritage of our country.

Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/25/2025

Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

MIL OSI Russia News –

April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: GUU and ACIM combine competencies to form a digital economy

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

On April 23, 2025, a meeting of the Board of the Association “Digital Innovations in Mechanical Engineering” (ACIM) was held, at which a decision was made to admit a new founder to ACIM – the State University of Management, as well as to include the rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev in the Board of Trustees of the Association.

The unification of the competencies of the State University of Management and the Center for Information Technologies and Communications will promote active innovation in the development of digital enterprise management models, the search for new forms of digital interaction between enterprises to form value chains, ensuring interoperability and cybersecurity of automated control systems, as well as the development of new educational programs for training specialists and managers in the field of digital transformation and digital enterprise management.

Participation in the activities of the Board of Trustees of the Rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroev will accelerate the development of interaction between the university and leading Russian IT companies, and will also allow acquiring new competencies in the field of managing complex processes of digital transformation of industry, will facilitate the introduction of new IT systems in the educational process and the development of new educational programs for training personnel in the interests of developing the digital economy.

The Association “Digital Innovations in Mechanical Engineering” was founded in 2019. Currently, it is one of the leading competence centers in the field of digital transformation and the formation of an ecosystem of digital mechanical engineering and related industries. The founders of the Association are leading universities (Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, Ulyanovsk State University, MSTU “STANKIN” and others), large domestic IT companies (1C, GC “TSIFRA”, JSC “Iteko”, JSC “ASCON”, LLC “Tesis” and others), high-tech industrial enterprises and corporations (JSC “USC”).

Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/25/2025

Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

MIL OSI Russia News –

April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Chair’s Statement: Fifty-First Meeting of the IMFC – Mr. Mohammed Aljadaan, Minister for Finance of Saudi Arabia
Source: IMF – News in Russian

April 25, 2025

In the context of the Fifty-First Meeting of the IMFC that took place in Washington, D.C. on 24^th and 25^th April, IMFC members welcomed the ongoing efforts to end wars and conflicts, recognizing that peace is essential to restoring stability and fostering sustainable growth. IMFC members underscored that all states must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in its entirety. They acknowledged, however, that the IMFC is not a forum to resolve geopolitical and security issues which are discussed in other fora.

The world economy is at a pivotal juncture. Following several years of rising concerns over trade, trade tensions have abruptly soared, fueling elevated uncertainty, market volatility, and risks to growth and financial stability. Near-term growth is projected to slow and intensifying downside risks dominate the outlook. We will step up our efforts to strengthen economic resilience and build a more prosperous future. We underline the critical role of the IMF in helping us navigate this challenging environment, as a trusted advisor and champion of strong policy frameworks. We thank our Deputies for discussing the medium-term direction of the IMF during their meeting in Diriyah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on April 6-7, 2025, and we agree on the annexed Diriyah Declaration.
1. The world economy is at a pivotal juncture. Following several years of rising concerns over trade, trade tensions have abruptly soared, fueling elevated uncertainty, market volatility, and risks to growth and financial stability. Near-term growth is projected to slow, while disinflation is expected to continue but at a slower pace. Intensifying downside risks dominate the outlook, in an already challenging context of weak growth and high public debt. Wars and conflicts impose a heavy humanitarian and economic toll. Transformative forces, such as digitalization/artificial intelligence, demographic shifts, and climate transitions are creating opportunities, but also challenges.
1. We will step up our efforts to strengthen economic resilience and break from the low-growth, high-debt path, while harnessing transformative forces, to build a more prosperous future. Comprehensive and well calibrated, well sequenced, and well communicated reforms and policy actions are needed to boost private sector-led growth, productivity, and job creation. We will pursue sound macroeconomic policies and advance structural reforms to improve the business environment, streamline excessive regulation, fight corruption, and mobilize innovation and technology adoption. We will deepen our pivot toward growth-friendly fiscal adjustments to ensure debt sustainability and rebuild buffers where needed. Fiscal adjustments should be mindful of distributional impacts and underpinned by a credible medium-term consolidation plan, while strengthening the efficiency of public spending, protecting the vulnerable, and supporting growth-enhancing public and private investments, taking into account country circumstances. Central banks remain strongly committed to maintaining price stability, in line with their respective mandates, and will continue to adjust their policies in a data dependent and well-communicated manner. We will continue to closely monitor and, as necessary, tackle financial vulnerabilities and risks to financial stability, while harnessing the benefits of innovation. We will work together to improve the resilience of the world economy and build prosperity and ensure the stability and effective functioning of the international monetary system. We will also work together to address excessive global imbalances, support an open, fair and rules-based international economic order, and reinforce supply chain resilience. We reaffirm our April 2021 exchange rate commitments.
1. We will continue to support countries as they undertake reforms and address debt vulnerabilities and debt service challenges. We acknowledge the specific challenges faced by low-income and vulnerable countries, including fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS) and small developing states (SDS), which are further compounded by recent decrease in official development assistance. We underline the importance of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust. We welcome the progress made on debt treatments under the G20 Common Framework (CF) and beyond. We remain committed to addressing global debt vulnerabilities in an effective, comprehensive, and systematic manner, including further stepping up the CF’s implementation in a predictable, timely, orderly, and coordinated manner, and enhancing debt transparency. We look forward to further work at the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable on ways to address debt vulnerabilities and restructuring challenges. We encourage the IMF and the World Bank to help advance the implementation of the 3-pillar approach to address debt service pressures in countries with sustainable debt, including through supporting them to implement growth-enhancing reforms, mobilize domestic resources, and attract private capital. We look forward to the review of the Low-Income Country Debt Sustainability Framework (LIC-DSF).
1. We welcome the Managing Director’s Global Policy Agenda.
1. We support further sharpening the focus of surveillance based on analytical rigor, evenhandedness, and tailored policy advice. We welcome a strong focus on helping countries strengthen their economic resilience and achieve macroeconomic and financial stability and sustainable growth by increasing productivity, addressing macro-critical risks, reducing excessive imbalances, achieving debt sustainability, and mitigating disruptive capital flows and exchange rate volatility. We look forward to the Comprehensive Surveillance Review that will set future surveillance priorities and modalities; and the Review of Financial Sector Assessment Programs to keep financial surveillance in step with evolving financial stability risks.
1. We look forward to the Review of Program Design and Conditionality to strengthen further the effectiveness of IMF-supported programs and to the Review of the Short-Term Liquidity Line. We also look forward to the assessment of the Global Financial Safety Net, including the role of Regional Financing Arrangements (RFAs), and its ability to safeguard global financial stability.
1. We support efforts to further strengthen capacity development and to ensure the sustainability of financing. We welcome the IMF’s ongoing work with the World Bank on the Joint Domestic Resource Mobilization Initiative. We welcome a more flexible and tailored delivery, better integrated with policy advice and program design, as set out in the 2024 Capacity Development Strategy Review.
1. We reaffirm our commitment to a strong, quota-based, and adequately resourced IMF at the center of the GFSN. We have advanced the domestic approvals for our consent to the quota increase under the 16^th General Review of Quotas and we look forward to the finalization of this process as soon as possible. We recognize that realignment in quota shares should aim at better reflecting members’ relative positions in the world economy, while protecting the voice of the poorest members. We acknowledge, however, that building consensus among members on quota and governance reforms will require progress in stages. In this regard, we agree on the annexed Diriyah Declaration on the way forward.
1. We underline the critical role of the IMF in helping us navigate the current challenging environment, as a trusted advisor and champion of strong policy frameworks. We reaffirm our commitment to the institution and look forward to discussing further ways to ensure the Fund remains agile and focused, working in collaboration with partners and other IFIs. We reiterate our appreciation for staff’s high-quality work and dedication to support the membership and continue to encourage further efforts to improve regional and women’s representation within staff positions, and women’s representation at the Executive Board and in Board leadership positions.
1. Our next meeting is expected to be held in October 2025.
Annexed Diriyah Declaration

Recalling the October 2024 IMFC Chair’s Statement, which stated: “We reiterate our strong commitment to the Fund on its 80th anniversary and look forward to further discussing at our next meeting ways to ensure the Fund remains well-equipped to meet future challenges, in line with its mandate, and in collaboration with partners and other IFIs. We ask our Deputies to prepare for this discussion.”; and

Drawing on the work advanced by our Deputies, who met in the historic town of Diriyah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on April 6-7, 2025, to prepare for this discussion;

We thank our Deputies and agree on the following Diriyah Declaration on the way forward with regard to IMFC processes and IMF quota and governance reforms.

*****

Enhancing IMFC Processes

We agree that the IMFC plays a key role in the IMF’s governance structure, offering the IMF Board of Governors trusted advice and providing strategic direction to the work and policies of the Fund through structured, high-level, and consensus-driven policy guidance on all relevant issues.

To enhance its effectiveness as a forum for effective engagement and consensus-building on complex challenges, we agree to further strengthen IMFC processes. To this end, we welcome recent improvements to the format of the Introductory IMFC session and the use of concise, accessible communiqués to effectively convey key IMFC messages to a broader audience. Moreover, we agree that deputy-level meetings focused on strategic rather than routine issues could support the work of IMFC principals.

We appreciate the value of engagement across the international financial architecture, including with Regional Financing Arrangements (RFAs), to enhance cooperation and strengthen the resilience of the international monetary system.

Strengthening IMF Governance

We note that the world economy currently faces significant challenges and agree that the IMF makes a vital contribution to international cooperation, providing a long-established and trusted institution for policy discussions informed by rigorous analysis. We stress that the IMF’s mandate to promote macroeconomic and financial stability remains as relevant as ever, and its role to support members in addressing macroeconomic challenges through analysis and policy advice, capacity development, and financing where relevant, is key. We agree on the need to ensure that the institution remains strong, quota-based, adequately resourced, and efficiently managed to fulfil its mandate at the center of the global financial safety net.

We agree that a strong, inclusive, and representative governance framework is fundamental to maintaining the Fund’s credibility and legitimacy among its diverse membership. Strengthening IMF governance will support its continued ability to effectively promote consensus among the membership in addressing global challenges. These efforts are also essential to fostering multilateralism and international cooperation.

Given the strategic importance of governance reforms, we recognize that progress toward consensus should be made in stages. In this context, we agree to develop as a first step a set of general principles to guide future discussions and help foster convergence of views. Work on these principles should be completed in a timely manner to help ensure the efficient progression of future General Reviews of Quotas (GRQs), including under the 17^th GRQ. Establishing these guiding principles would help ensure that governance changes are gradual, widely acceptable, and reflective of the interests of the entire membership, as well as maintain the Fund’s financial soundness.

The Way Forward

We agree that implementation of the 16^th GRQ remains a priority. We recognize that realignment in quota shares should aim at better reflecting members’ relative positions in the world economy, while protecting the voice of the poorest members. To build consensus on future governance reforms, including under the 17^th GRQ, we call on the Executive Board to develop, by the 2026 Spring Meetings, a set of principles to guide future discussions on IMF quotas and governance, drawing from the deliberations by IMFC Deputies during their meeting in Diriyah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on April 6-7, 2025. We look forward to a discussion of the status of advancement of this work at our next meeting. We ask our Deputies to prepare for this discussion.

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY AND FINANCIAL COMMITTEE

ATTENDANCE

Chair

Mohammed Aljadaan, Minister of Finance, Saudi Arabia

Managing Director

Kristalina Georgieva

Members or Alternates

Ayman Alsayari, Governor of the Saudi Central Bank, Saudi Arabia (Alternate for Mohammed Aljadaan, Minister of Finance, Saudi Arabia)

Mohammed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, United Arab Emirates

Edgar Amador Zamora, Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Mexico

Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Treasury, United States

Edouard Normand Bigendako, Governor, Bank of the Republic of Burundi

Luis Caputo, Minister of Economy, Argentina

Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada (Alternate for Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance, Canada)

Sang Mok Choi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, Republic of Korea

Giancarlo Giorgetti, Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy

Gabriel Galipolo, Governor, Central Bank of Brazil (Alternate for Fernando Haddad, Minister of Finance, Brazil)

Jan Jambon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Pensions, National Lottery and Federal Culture Institutions, Belgium

Katsunobu Kato, Minister of Finance, Japan

Daniela Stoffel, State Secretary for International Finance, Federal Department of Finance, Switzerland (Alternate for Karin Keller-Sutter, Minister of Finance, Switzerland)

Lesetja Kganyago, Governor, South African Reserve Bank, South Africa

Jörg Kukies, Federal Minister of the Ministry of Finance, Germany

François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France (Alternate for Eric Lombard, Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, France)

Adebayo Olawale Edun, Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Nigeria

Gongsheng Pan, Governor of the People’s Bank of China

Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, H.M. Treasury, United Kingdom

Pavel Snisorenko, Director, Department of International Financial Relations (Alternate for Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance, Russian Federation)

Sanjay Malhotra, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (Alternate for Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance, India)

Mehmet Simsek, Minister of Treasury and Finance, Republic of Türkiye

Salah-Eddine Taleb, Governor, Bank of Algeria

Perry Warjiyo, Governor, Bank of Indonesia

Ida Wolden Bache, Governor, Bank of Norway

Observers

Agustín Carstens, General Manager, Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

Elisabeth Svantesson, Chair, Development Committee (DC) and Minister for Finance, Sweden

Christine Lagarde, President, European Central Bank (ECB)

Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, European Commission (EC)

Klaas Knot, Chair, Financial Stability Board (FSB) and President of De Nederlandsche Bank

Celeste Drake, Deputy Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO)

Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Mohannad Alsuwaidan, Economic Analyst, Petroleum Studies Department, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, United Nations (UN)

Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, The World Bank (WB)

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO)

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Wafa Amr

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

@IMFSpokesperson

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/04/25/pr-123-imfc-chairs-statement-fifty-first-meeting-of-the-imfc

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/25/2025, 17-09 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A101PF9 (ALROSA B04) were changed.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

04/25/2025

17:09

In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on 25.04.2025, 17-09 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 107.87) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1118.47 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 7.5%) of the security RU000A101PF9 (ALROSA B04) were changed.

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/25/2025, 17-31 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A0JX2F6 (TbankB11) were changed.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

04/25/2025

17:31

In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC), on 25.04.2025, 17-31 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 110.71) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1243.79 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 21.25%) of the security RU000A0JX2F6 (TbankB11) were changed.

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Chernyshenko: The education system should become a support for scientific and technological breakthrough

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

The Korsun Children’s Center, a branch of the Artek International Children’s Center, hosted a plenary session of the All-Russian Conference for heads of executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation responsible for education management. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov took part in the event.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, speaking at the meeting, noted the symbolism of holding the event in Sevastopol, the city of Russian naval glory. He emphasized that the valor demonstrated by the defenders of Sevastopol during the Crimean and Great Patriotic Wars is forever inscribed in the history of Russia’s military glory.

The Deputy Prime Minister also noted that on the eve of Victory Day and in the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, it is important to remember the exploits of heroes past and present, so that they become an example of honor, dignity and love for the Motherland for children.

“Unlocking the potential of young people, realizing their capabilities and raising patriots are the national goals set by President Vladimir Putin. On the way to this goal, the country faces various challenges, such as value threats, demographic risks and technological changes. The education system, according to the head of state, should be the support for the scientific and technological breakthrough that our country needs not only to maintain sovereignty at all levels, but also to achieve technological leadership. Russia is among the top ten countries in terms of education quality and among the top 8 countries in terms of scientific research. This is a very competitive environment, and we need to try hard to strengthen and maintain this leadership,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that at the beginning of the year, strategic and district sessions were held in all regions, where proposals from the regions for the draft text of the strategy were discussed and formed. In total, more than 1,000 proposals were collected and processed.

Dmitry Chernyshenko expressed gratitude to the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov for the effective organization of this work. He noted that strategic documents in the field of education are created in such a way that the field itself makes a contribution with its own hands. During these sessions, key challenges were formulated and, most importantly, the goal, mission, vision and values of the education system.

During the meeting, Dmitry Chernyshenko spoke about the creation of a benchmark system of indicators for the education sector, which will become the basis for making management decisions.

He emphasized that the need to build such a system is due to the fragmentation of indicators, research and statistical data currently existing in the field of education. The new approach will allow obtaining systematized and unified data.

“Work on creating a benchmark system of indicators for the education sector is being carried out on the instructions of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. A special project has been launched at the Government Coordination Center, which should fully characterize the education system at all levels,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that as a result of the analysis of the diversity of indicators used in the field of education, the project developers identified over 25 thousand criteria. “It is obvious that no one person can understand 25 thousand parameters,” he added, emphasizing the importance of creating convenient and understandable analytical panels.

The results of joint work at the All-Russian conference will form the basis of an action plan for the implementation of the Education Development Strategy, determining further steps for the development of the industry.

Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov expressed gratitude to representatives of all subjects of the Russian Federation who took an active part in the project “Living Memory of Grateful Generations” in the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland and the 80th anniversary of Victory. He also proposed actively inviting students to participate in the celebratory events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, including the “Immortal Regiment” campaign.

“This campaign should be held in every school, in person or online. Participation in the “No Statute of Limitations” project and communication with veterans are also important,” the head of the department said.

In addition, Sergey Kravtsov announced changes that are planned within the framework of the organization of the educational process.

“It is important that in each school, teaching is conducted in accordance with uniform educational programs, the number of hours is clear, and what students study is synchronized with the unified state exam,” the minister noted.

He added that in 2026, an all-Russian school Olympiad in robotics with tasks on UAVs will be launched, and a “roadmap” for 2025–2026 for the introduction and teaching and methodological support of the subject “Spiritual and Moral Culture of Russia” (SMC) in schools has been approved.

The All-Russian Conference of Heads of Executive Bodies of the Subjects of the Russian Federation Implementing Public Administration in the Sphere of Education is being held in Crimea from April 24 to 26. The event is a platform for professional dialogue, exchange of experience and formation of strategic decisions in the sphere of education. The business program includes practical seminars and strategic sessions. At the plenary session, the participants defined the vectors of development of education for the coming years.

In addition, Dmitry Chernyshenko and Sergey Kravtsov launched the Year of Children’s Recreation in the Education System, announced by the Ministry of Education for 2025. This year will be special for the federal children’s centers “Artek”, “Orlyonok” and “Smena”, celebrating their anniversary.

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Patrushev: In 2024, more than 450 billion rubles were allocated for geological exploration

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev spoke at a meeting of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use. The event summed up the results of the agency’s work in 2024 and outlined plans for 2025.

“Our country has a unique mineral resource base, including about 230 types of minerals. Thanks to this, the Russian Federation is among the world leaders in reserves of natural gas, diamonds, gold, nickel, coal and other resources. Raw material extraction is one of the leading areas of our economy. It forms a third of the consolidated budget revenues and allows industry to develop sustainably,” said Dmitry Patrushev.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the main task of Rosnedra is to ensure effective management of the state subsoil fund. At present, the federal agency administers almost 24 thousand licenses for prospecting, exploration and production of minerals.

“The most important thing is to ensure control over the quality of license execution. Rosnedra must ensure the continuity of exploration and prospecting, since the timely replenishment and sufficiency of reserves for the needs of the economy depend on this. The state creates conditions for attracting investment in geological exploration of the subsoil. In 2024, a record amount was allocated for exploration – more than 450 billion rubles,” Dmitry Patrushev emphasized.

Due to the influx of investment from businesses in the last 10 years, there has been a significant increase in reserves of the most popular types of minerals, including gold, copper, iron and oil. Large deposits have been explored, including deposits of rare and rare earth metals.

At the same time, the Deputy Prime Minister set the task of ensuring a search reserve for scarce types of minerals. To this end, the Government plans to allocate more than 50 billion rubles for geological exploration in the next three years.

Dmitry Patrushev drew attention to the need to involve only qualified and experienced companies in the study and development of subsoil resources.

“We must not forget about increasing the responsibility of subsoil users themselves, including by preventing the emergence of so-called dormant licenses. Their list includes deposits of scarce raw materials. This must be corrected at the interdepartmental level, including involving supervisory authorities. In the near future, each such license must be analyzed. In this case, resources are idle, although they should bring profit. If an entrepreneur is not ready to develop a project, the right of use must be terminated, and the site must be transferred to a bona fide company,” said Dmitry Patrushev.

The Deputy Prime Minister also stressed that measures of economic stimulation of business are also necessary. Subsoil users should be interested in high-quality development of deposits, and payments for use should correspond to the value of the deposits.

Dmitry Patrushev placed special emphasis on the President’s order to form chains for the search and development of mineral deposits in the Arctic. In particular, it is necessary to ensure the extraction and deep processing of rare and rare earth metals in this zone.

The Deputy Prime Minister also noted the need to attract young, highly qualified specialists to the industry. According to him, at the level of higher and secondary vocational education, great emphasis should be placed from the very start on practical training and the development of targeted training.

In conclusion, Dmitry Patrushev added that the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of the Mineral Resource Base until 2050 largely depends on the high-quality solution of all the tasks outlined. Its key task is to ensure the accelerated growth of mineral reserves, which will guarantee the country resource independence.

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/25/2025 Changes in the parameters of the second deposit auction of the Federal Treasury

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

Application selection parameters:

Application selection date 25.04.2025. Unique application selection identifier 22025104. Deposit currency – rubles. Type of funds – funds of a single treasury account. Maximum amount of funds placed on bank deposits, million monetary units 450,000. Placement term, in days 4. Date of depositing funds 25.04.2025. Date of return of funds 29.04.2025. Interest rate for placing funds (fixed or floating) FIXED. Minimum fixed interest rate for placing funds, % per annum 20.05. Basic floating interest rate for placing funds-Minimum spread, % per annum-Terms of concluding a bank deposit agreement (fixed-term, replenishable or special) Fixed-term. Minimum amount of funds placed for one application, million monetary units 1,000. Maximum number of applications from one credit institution, pcs. 5. Application selection form (open or closed)Open. Application selection schedule (Moscow time). Place of application selection Moscow Exchange PJSC.

Acceptance of applications from 18:30 to 18:40. Applications in preliminary mode from 18:30 to 18:35. Applications in competition mode from 18:35 to 18:40. Formation of a consolidated register of applications from 18:40 to 18:50. Setting the cutoff interest rate and (or) recognizing the selection of applications as unsuccessful from 18:40 to 18:50. Sending an offer to credit institutions to conclude a bank deposit agreement from 18:50 to 19:30. Receipt from credit institutions of acceptance of the offer to conclude a bank deposit agreement from 18:50 to 19:30. Deposit transfer time – In accordance with the requirements of paragraph 63 and paragraph 64 of the Order of the Federal Treasury dated 27.04.2023 No. 10n.

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/25/2025, 14-10 (Moscow time) the values of the lower limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A0JUKX4 (DOM.RF30ob) were changed.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

04/25/2025

14:10

In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on 25.04.2025, 14-10 (Moscow time), the values of the lower limit of the price corridor (up to 93.18) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 903.4 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 7.5%) of the RU000A0JUKX4 security (DOM.RF30ob) were changed.

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HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.MO/N89805

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Russian-Tajikistani negotiations

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Mikhail Mishustin held talks with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Kokhir Rasulzoda. The heads of government discussed current issues of Russian-Tajik trade, economic, investment and cultural-humanitarian cooperation.

From the transcript:

M. Mishustin: Good afternoon, dear Mr. Rasulzoda! I am glad to meet you again. Welcome to the Government House of the Russian Federation.

I ask you first of all to convey the kindest words of greetings to the President of Tajikistan, the respected Emomali Sharipovich Rahmon, from the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. I spoke with him on the phone just a few minutes ago, and he expressed the kindest wishes to Tajikistan.

Tajikistan is Russia’s most important ally and strategic partner in Central Asia. Our relations are built on historical friendship and mutual respect between our fraternal peoples.

During the visit of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Sharipovich Rahmon to Russia in March, important agreements were reached on the further development of Russian-Tajik cooperation.

The task of our governments is to strictly implement the agreements and decisions made at the highest level.

Russia ranks first among Tajikistan’s foreign trade partners. In January-February of this year, mutual trade turnover increased by 9% and amounted to 23 billion rubles.

The intergovernmental commission is actively working. On the part of Tajikistan, dear Mr. Rasulzoda, you head it. On our part – Marat Shakirzyanovich Khusnullin. Naturally, we are also in constant contact with you.

We pay priority attention to strengthening interregional cooperation. More than 80 subjects of the Russian Federation are developing direct business ties with Tajikistan. There are many promising joint projects in mechanical engineering, energy, and mining.

We consider it very important to strengthen cooperation in the field of environmental protection. We support Tajikistan’s initiative to preserve high-mountain glaciers in Eurasia.

To be continued…

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: The government has introduced a moratorium on the application of VAT penalties to entrepreneurs using the simplified taxation system

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Document

Resolution of April 23, 2025 No. 530

The government has decided to support entrepreneurs who use the simplified taxation system (STS) and who have become value-added tax (VAT) payers for the first time. They will not be subject to penalties for failure to submit their first VAT tax return on time if such a tax return is submitted for the first time for any of the quarters of 2025. The decision taken will help businesses calmly reconfigure their accounting programs and study the procedure for filling out a VAT return.

Changes to the Tax Code for taxpayers using the simplified taxation system came into force in 2025. In particular, the revenue limit for simplified taxation system payers expanded from 265.8 million to 450 million rubles, and the threshold for the residual value of fixed assets expanded from 150 million to 200 million rubles. Thus, more entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to use the simplified taxation system without resorting to business fragmentation.

Entrepreneurs using the simplified tax system, whose revenue for the previous year exceeded 60 million rubles or exceeded 60 million rubles from January 1, 2025, are required to pay value-added tax. It is precisely to make it easier for them to adapt to the new rules that the Government has decided to temporarily suspend the application of penalties.

The signed resolution comes into force from the moment of publication and applies to legal relations that arose from January 1, 2025.

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: LADA Sport ROSNEFT Racing Team Presents Updated Lineup for Season Start

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Before the start of the new season, the LADA Sport ROSNEFT racing team held a presentation of the updated line-up of pilots.

In the 2025 season, Russia’s most titled racing team will take part in two classes of circuit racing and karting. Ivan Chubarov and Vladimir Sheshenin will drive cars in the most powerful class, SMP TCR Russia. Leonid Panfilov and Andrey Petukhov will pilot cars in the Super Production class.

The updated SMP TCR Russia team will be headed by Maxim Ostudin, who has been responsible for the results of the Super Production class pilots for the past 8 seasons. The work of Production itself will be supervised by the current holder of the Russian Circuit Racing Cup, 16-time Russian Champion Kirill Ladygin.

In 2025, the main LADA Sport ROSNEFT Academy will continue to operate – a karting team, five pilots of which will compete for the prizes of the Championship and the National Championship. The LADA Sport ROSNEFT Junior karting team is the current national champion and has held this title for the third year in a row.

Rosneft has been the general sponsor of LADA Sport ROSNEFT since 2015. During this time, the team has achieved impressive results, winning 45 championship titles, including victory in the Silk Way Rally, as well as in all classes of circuit racing, classic rally and karting. Thanks to this cooperation, the market received a number of innovative products: high-octane gasoline Pulsar-100 and sports racing oil Rosneft Magnum Racing. Since 2021, the LADA Sport ROSNEFT team has been using this engine oil, which provides increased engine protection in extreme competition conditions. Technologies tested on race tracks are available to motorists. Pulsar fuel and Magnum Racing oil can be purchased at Rosneft filling stations

Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft April 25, 2025

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Construction industry specialists presented the results of their research at a conference at St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Opening of the conference. In the presidium, from left to right: Olga Pastukh, Andrey Nikulin, Evgeny Korolev, Director of the Soil Testing Center, Head of the Geotechnics Department of SPbGASU Anatoly Osokin

The III National (All-Russian) Scientific and Technical Conference “Prospects of Modern Construction” was held at the Construction Faculty of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering from April 21 to 23.

The welcoming part of the plenary session opened with the showing of two videos, the first of which introduced the conference participants to our university. The other video was prepared by the creative team of the construction faculty for the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and told about how the university lived during the difficult years of the Leningrad blockade.

The moderator, Deputy Dean for Research, Associate Professor of the Department of Architectural and Construction Structures Olga Pastukh addressed the participants of the plenary session. Olga Aleksandrovna introduced the members of the conference organizing committee and invited them to visit the exhibition dedicated to safety in the construction industry that opened as part of the conference.

On behalf of and on behalf of the rector of SPbGASU Evgeny Rybnov, the vice-rector for research activities Evgeny Korolev delivered a welcoming speech. Evgeny Valerievich noted that the conference could become a driver for the development of the national project “Infrastructure for Life”. The project, aimed at improving the comfort of housing, ensuring the safety of the urban environment, requires new, scientifically sound scientific solutions that will be implemented in practice.

The Vice-Rector also emphasized the successes of the SPbGASU construction faculty team. Thus, on April 16, by decree of the President of Russia, Rashid Mangushev, professor of the geotechnical department, was awarded the title of “Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation”. Separate words of greeting were addressed to young researchers, whose presence in the hall, according to the Vice-Rector, is the key to the sustainability of science and the university. In conclusion, Evgeny Valerievich wished everyone fruitful work and constructive discussions.

Dean of the Faculty of Construction Andrey Nikulin spoke about the activities of our university. Andrey Nikolaevich also introduced the faculty he heads, informed about its departments, laboratories, and partners.

At the plenary session, the round table “Fire-safe construction – in the hands of youth” and six sections, scientists and specialists in the construction industry informed about new promising research results, exchanged experiences and ideas, and expanded their circle of professional acquaintances.

The chairman of the metal and wooden structures section, head of the metal and wooden structures department, Yegor Danilov, spoke about the work of the section: “The section, which worked for three days, brought together more than 300 listeners, and about 90 people spoke as authors of reports. Among the participants were representatives of three construction companies, specialists from universities from Vologda, Yoshkar-Ola, Novocherkassk and other Russian cities, three foreign guests (Kazakhstan, China). The current problems of ensuring the spatial rigidity of modern multi-story wooden buildings, technical aspects of improving the standards of metal structures were discussed, and new methods for calculating joints were proposed. All days of the conference were eventful. The exchange of experience was extremely useful for both the students and the respected scientists-speakers.”

Associate Professor of the Department of Technosphere Safety Olga Gorbunova was the Deputy Chairperson of the Occupational Safety in Construction section at the conference. According to her, the section was held in two stages: on the first day, representatives of professional communities in the field of occupational safety and faculty from universities in our country presented scientific reports, and on the second day, students did so. The topics of the reports touched upon current issues of ensuring human safety in the modern world, and issues of ensuring occupational safety in the construction industry. Olga Vladimirovna named some of the topics of student research: “The effects of man-made accidents using fuel oil on the state of the environment”; “Use of vacuum waste removal systems for collecting hazardous medical waste”; “On a unified system of cadastral control and fire safety”.

Mikhail Zhavoronkov, Deputy Chairman and Associate Professor of the Department of Construction Materials and Metrology, reported on what was happening in the section on technology of building materials and metrology: “15 reports were announced. The work was held in a mixed mode: some reports were presented in person, and some – remotely. The speakers were teachers, postgraduates and master’s students of the department of TSMiM SPbGASU and other universities, representatives of organizations carrying out scientific and practical activities in the areas of work of the section. The reports were devoted to the study of the properties of concrete made using various fillers, various binders and using special additives; issues of formation of micro- and macrostructure of these concretes; development of a quality management system in construction, shortcomings of modern regulatory documentation and ways to overcome them. Of great interest were the works describing the properties of dispersion-reinforced concrete and dedicated to counteracting the explosive destruction of concrete during heating.”

The reports at the section of the Department of Structural Mechanics raised issues of modeling geotechnical structures and earthquake-resistant construction.

The section of the departments of construction organization and construction production technology started with the speeches of the heads of departments Roman Motylev and Anton Gaido, who spoke about the main areas of their scientific work. Particular attention was drawn to the reports “Formation of a resource-saving complex of machines for the construction of a roadbed by hydromechanization” by Vladimir Vanzha (associate professor of the Kuban State Agrarian University), “Application of modular heat-protective panels to ensure the reliability of installation of steel structures in the conditions of the Far North” by Milana Raslambekova (master’s student of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering) and others. The participants of the scientific section noted the breadth of topics of the reports and the relevance of the choice of research topics by master’s and postgraduate students of the departments.

Representatives of various Russian universities took part in the work of the section of the Department of Architectural and Building Structures. The presentations of Irina Chernyshkova (Associate Professor of the South-Russian Polytechnic University) on the topic of “Acoustic Features of Atrium Spaces” and Nikolay Cherepanov (Student of the St. Petersburg State University of Railway Engineering) on the topic of “Requirements for Architectural Structures of a Building for the Integration of Unmanned Delivery into an Urban Environment” aroused particular interest among the audience and a lively professional discussion.

The students also presented reports on modular technologies, recycled materials and structures, the features of thermal insulation materials for various building structures and unique construction in the Arctic zone.

In addition to the engineering and technical aspects of construction, there were reports on the renovation of industrial heritage from the point of view of architectural and urban planning, innovation, environmental and socio-economic aspects. Olga Pastukh and Qu Rulan (candidate of architecture, senior lecturer at Zhengzhou University, China) analyzed both the experience of historical Russian cities and the influence of Soviet urban planning ideas on the growth and development of industrial cities in China in the mid-20th century, as well as their current state. Their presentation was prepared based on the results of a joint research project, “The Influence of Soviet Urban Planning Concepts and Ideas on the Formation and Development of Industrial Cities in China in the Mid-20th Century.”

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: GUU at a meeting at AFK Sistema: joint promotion of scientific projects

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

On April 23, representatives of the State University of Management took part in an open dialogue on the topic of “Systemic communications: features of promoting innovative, knowledge-intensive and socially significant projects”, which was held at the head office of AFK Sistema

The meeting with the executive vice president for public relations of AFK Sistema Sergey Kopytov brought together representatives of Lomonosov Moscow State University, RUDN University, HSE, RANEPA, Moscow Polytechnic University, State University of Management, Moscow State Institute of Culture, as well as the First Student Agency, a youth media outlet.

The following took part from the State University of Management: Head of the Department for Coordination of Scientific Research Maxim Pletnev, Director of the Business Incubator Dmitry Rogov, Junior Researcher of the Department for Coordination of Scientific Research Anna Sotnikova and Analyst of the Center for Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Anna Grishkina.

During the meeting, the Head of the Corporate Communications Department of AFK Sistema shared practical cases. In particular, he spoke about covering the corporation’s contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the formation of a high-tech pharmaceutical holding, information support for the IPO of forestry and microelectronic assets, as well as about the promotion of AFK Sistema Group projects that shape the technological future of the country in such areas as: hydrogen and satellite technologies, computer vision and microchip production, the creation of electric river vessels and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

The event was a continuation of the educational project implemented by the Sistema Charitable Foundation together with industrial partners from among the country’s leading high-tech companies as part of the Decade of Science and Technology in Russia. The project, which started in March 2025 at the R site

Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/25/2025

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April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: IMF Reaches Staff-Level Agreement on the Fourth Review under the Extended Fund Facility with Sri Lanka
Source: IMF – News in Russian

April 25, 2025

End-of-Mission press releases include statements of IMF staff teams that convey preliminary findings after a visit to a country. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF’s Executive Board for discussion and decision.
- IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities have reached staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the Fourth Review of Sri Lanka’s reform program supported by the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility. Once the review is approved by the IMF Executive Board, Sri Lanka will have access to about US$344 million in financing.
- Program performance remains strong overall. Economic growth is rebounding. Revenue mobilization, reserve accumulation, and structural reforms are advancing as envisaged. Debt restructuring is nearly complete. Importantly, the government remains committed to program objectives.
- However, global trade policy uncertainty poses significant downside risks to Sri Lanka’s economy. If these materialize, authorities and staff will work together to assess the impact and formulate policy responses within the contours of the IMF-supported program.
Washington, DC: After constructive discussions in Colombo and during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC, IMF Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Evan Papageorgiou issued the following statement:

“IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the Fourth Review of Sri Lanka’s reform program supported by the IMF’s 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. The EFF was approved by the IMF Executive Board for a total amount of SDR 2.3 billion (about US$3 billion) on March 20, 2023.

“The staff-level agreement is subject to IMF Executive Board approval, contingent on: (i) the implementation of prior actions relating to restoring electricity cost-recovery pricing and ensuring proper function of the automatic electricity price adjustment mechanism; and (ii) the completion of financing assurances review, which will focus on confirming multilateral partners’ committed financing contributions and adequate debt restructuring progress.

“Upon completion of the Executive Board review, Sri Lanka would have access to SDR254 million (about US$344 million), bringing the total IMF financial support disbursed under the arrangement to SDR1,270 million (about US$1,722 million).

“Sri Lanka’s ambitious reform agenda continues to deliver commendable outcomes. The post-crisis growth rebound of 5 percent in 2024 is remarkable. Revenue mobilization reforms had improved revenue-to-GDP ratio to 13.5 percent in 2024, from 8.2 percent in 2022. Gross official reserves reached US$6.5 billion at end-March 2025 given sizeable foreign exchange purchases by the central bank. Substantial fiscal reforms have strengthened public finances. Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring is nearly complete.

“Program performance remains strong overall. Based on preliminary data, most end-March quantitative targets for which data is available were met. Most structural benchmarks due by end-April were either met or implemented with delay. However, the continuous structural benchmark on cost-recovery electricity pricing remains not met. Inflation remains below the Monetary Policy Consultation target band.

“The recent external shock and evolving developments create significant uncertainty for the Sri Lankan economy, which is still recovering from its own economic crisis.

“Against this global uncertainty, sustained revenue mobilization efforts and prudent budget execution remain critical to preserve the limited fiscal space, to allow appropriate responses if shocks materialize. Restoring cost-recovery electricity pricing is essential to minimize fiscal risks and enable appropriate electricity infrastructure investments. The tax exemption framework should be well designed to reduce fiscal costs and corruption risks, while enabling growth. Reforms to boost tax compliance are important to deliver revenue gains without resorting to additional tax measures.

“Similarly, it remains critical to continue rebuilding external buffers through reserves accumulation, to allow appropriate responses if shocks materialize. Inflationary pressures remain contained and banks are well capitalized. However, continued monitoring is warranted to ensure sustained price and financial stability.

“The government has an important responsibility to protect the poor and vulnerable at this uncertain time. It is important to continue efforts to improve targeting, adequacy, and coverage of social safety nets. Fiscal support needs to be well-targeted, time-bound, and within the existing budget envelope.

“The new government’s sustained commitment to program objectives has enhanced confidence and ensures policy continuity. Going forward, sustaining reform momentum including by reducing corruption vulnerabilities, is critical to safeguard the hard-won gains, durably restore macroeconomic and debt sustainability, and unlock robust and inclusive growth.

“The IMF team held meetings in Washington DC with the Honorable Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Secretary to the Treasury Mr. K M Mahinda Siriwardana, and other senior officials.

“We would like to thank the authorities for the excellent discussions and strong collaboration.”

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Randa Elnagar

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

@IMFSpokesperson

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/04/25/pr25122-sri-lanka-imf-reaches-sla-on-the-4th-review-under-the-eff

MIL OSI
MIL OSI Russia News –
April 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/25/2025, 12:08 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A10A6B8 (RusGid2P02) were changed.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

04/25/2025

12:08

In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on 25.04.2025, 12-08 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 133.73) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1403.31 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 10.0%) of the security RU000A10A6B8 (RusGid2P02) were changed.

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April 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Alexey Lukin: “I linked my future with the Higher School of Mechanics and Control Processes and have never regretted it”

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

Associate Professor of the Higher School of Mechanics and Control Processes of the Physics and Mechanical Institute Alexey Lukin is a bright representative of young scientists of the Polytechnic University. A candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, he successfully manages and participates in projects supported by the Russian Science Foundation, including projects for youth research groups. Their topics are related to the activities of SPbPU partner – the Central Research Institute “Elektropribor”, with which Alexey Vyacheslavovich actively interacts. In the interview the hero said about his path in science, about fateful acquaintances at the Polytechnic University and about which engineering projects are currently considered breakthroughs.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

April 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: “I work with film companies all over the world, with two projects in Hollywood and 20 in Russia in development.”

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

The moment I remember most during my studies was when the producer of Bazelevs, Maria Zatulovskaya, flew to Perm. She was teaching us a course called Presentations and Pitchings and invited us all to the cinema after class to watch her film Resurrected. Masha paid for tickets for our entire study group right at the box office and walked confidently into the hall. The cashier asked us: “Guys, who is this?” and we proudly answered: “This is the producer of the film we are going to see.” I have probably never seen the cashier’s mouth open so wide again [laughs].

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MIL OSI Russia News –

April 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/25/2025 will be the deposit auction of the Investment Agency of the Tyumen Region

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

Parameters: Date of the deposit auction 04/25/2025. Placement currency RUB. Maximum amount of funds placed (in the placement currency) 41,388,000.00. Placement term, days 174. Date of depositing funds 04/25/2025. Date of return of funds 10/16/2025. Minimum placement interest rate, % per annum 20.50. Terms of the conclusion, urgent or special (Urgent). Minimum amount of funds placed for one application (in the placement currency) 41,388,000.00. Maximum number of applications from one Participant, pcs. 1. Auction form, open or closed (Open).

The basis of the Agreement is the General Agreement. Schedule (Moscow time). Applications in preliminary mode from 12:15 to 12:30. Applications in competitive mode from 12:30 to 12:40. Setting the cut-off percentage rate or declaring the auction invalid before 13:10.

Additional conditions – Placement of funds without the possibility of early withdrawal of the deposit, monthly payment of interest on the deposit.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

April 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Rosneft volunteers held an environmental campaign in Tyumen in honor of the 80th anniversary of Victory

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

RN-Uvatneftegaz (part of the Rosneft oil production complex) organized an environmental campaign to clean the shoreline of Lake Andreyevskoye in the Tyumen Region. The initiative was dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. More than 100 volunteers took part in it – employees of the enterprise, Tyumenneftegaz, the Rosneft scientific institute in Tyumen, their family members, as well as young activists of the Movement of the First. The volunteers collected 2.5 tons of household waste on an area of 10 hectares.

The campaign is aimed not only at developing a caring attitude towards nature in the younger generation, but also at preserving historical memory and fostering spiritual and patriotic values. Volunteers cleared the shoreline of garbage and set up a stand with information about the lake and the birds and animals living in its vicinity. At the end of the campaign, they held a quiz on knowledge of the events of the Great Patriotic War.

Rosneft enterprises have been holding an environmental campaign on Lake Andreyevskoye for the third year in a row. In addition, thanks to the initiative of the Company’s Tyumen enterprises, the local population is becoming more aware of the need to preserve Lake Solenoye, a natural monument of regional significance. Tyumenneftegaz annually holds environmental campaigns to improve its coastal area; last year, an environmental tourist route was created here as part of a grant program.

Rosneft enterprises actively cooperate with Tyumen scientists and implement projects aimed at preserving the region’s biodiversity. With the support of RN-Uvatneftegaz, scientists study populations of northern forest deer and endangered birds of the Uvatsky District, including the white-tailed eagle.

Preserving the environment for future generations is one of the key principles of Rosneft’s activities. The company implements a number of large-scale environmental programs and is a leader in minimizing environmental impact and improving the environmental friendliness of production.

Reference:

Lake Andreyevskoye is the largest fresh water body with an area of over 16 square kilometers in the vicinity of the city of Tyumen. More than 30 archaeological monuments have been discovered on its shores, and a museum-reserve has been created.

In the middle of Lake Andreyevskoye is the island of Kozlov Mys, a specially protected area, a natural monument of regional significance. Rare and uncharacteristic plants grow on the island, and several species of animals listed in the Red Book are also found.

Information about the flora and fauna of Kozlov Mys was included in the first book about specially protected natural areas of the Tyumen region, which was published in 2022 with the support of RN-Uvatneftegaz.

Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft April 25, 2025

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MIL OSI Russia News –

April 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: To Vladimir Gusev, President of the State Russian Museum, Honored Artist of Russia

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Mikhail Mishustin congratulated the President of the Russian Museum on his 80th birthday.

The telegram states, in particular:

“You have dedicated your life to serving art and have made an invaluable contribution to the development of Russian museum affairs.

Thanks in large part to your professionalism and organizational talent, the State Russian Museum has not only preserved, but also significantly increased its rich collection. And today it remains one of the main national treasures, a center of scientific, educational and enlightening activities. Large-scale research, restoration and exhibition projects aimed at studying and popularizing the cultural and historical heritage of Russia are being implemented here. Innovative technologies are being introduced that enable millions of people from different countries to take online tours of exhibits and unique architectural structures.

I wish you success in everything, good health and prosperity.”

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MIL OSI Russia News –

April 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: The deposit auction of the Moscow Small Business Lending Assistance Fund will take place on 25.04.2025

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

Parameters: Date of the deposit auction 04/25/2025. Placement currency RUB. Maximum amount of funds placed (in the placement currency) 200,000,000.00 Placement term, days 35. Date of depositing funds 04/25/2025. Date of return of funds 05/30/2025. Minimum placement interest rate, % per annum 20.00 Terms of the conclusion, urgent or special (Urgent). Minimum amount of funds placed for one application (in the placement currency) 200,000,000.00 Maximum number of applications from one Participant, pcs. 1. Auction form, open or closed (Open).

The basis of the Agreement is the General Agreement. Schedule (Moscow time). Applications in preliminary mode from 12:00 to 12:10. Applications in competition mode from 12:10 to 12:15. Setting the cutoff percentage rate or declaring the auction invalid before 12:25.

Additional conditions – Placement of funds with the possibility of early withdrawal of the entire deposit amount and payment of interest accrued on the deposit amount at the rate established by the deposit transaction, in the event of non-compliance of the Bank with the requirements established by clause 2.1. of the Regulation “On the procedure for selecting banks for placing funds of the Moscow Small Business Lending Assistance Fund in deposits (deposits) under the GDS” (as amended on the date of the deposit transaction), early withdrawal at the “on demand” rate, payment of interest at the end of the term, without replenishment.

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HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.MO/N89797

MIL OSI Russia News –

April 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Marat Khusnullin: The superstructure of the transport interchange at the intersection of the M-1 “Belarus” and A-108 roads has been concreted

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

In the area of the village of Dorokhovo in the Moscow Region, construction of a transport interchange at the intersection of the M-1 Belarus highway and the A-108 Moscow Big Ring road continues. Builders have completed concreting the overpass superstructure. This was reported by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.

“In road construction, we pay special attention to transport interchanges. They improve the situation in complex transport hubs, solving the problem of traffic jams, as they redirect traffic flows without traffic lights and stops. In addition, they improve the throughput of roads, which is of great importance for high-speed highways. The construction of one of the interchanges continues at the 86th km of the M-1 “Belarus”. As of today, concreting of the superstructure of the overpass with a length of 95 m has already been completed. A total of 243 cubic meters of concrete and 200 tons of metal were used for this. The overall readiness of the facility is 85%,” said Marat Khusnullin.

The Deputy Prime Minister added that specialists will soon begin work on installing waterproofing, laying asphalt concrete, and installing a barrier fence and electric lighting lines. Earthworks on the site have been completed by 90%, during which 220 thousand cubic meters of sand, 51 thousand cubic meters of crushed stone and sand mixture were poured, and 152 thousand square meters of asphalt concrete were laid.

Currently, 97 people and 27 units of special equipment are involved in the project.

To ensure road safety, an automated traffic control system (ATCS) will be installed here. This equipment complex will allow monitoring the traffic situation in real time.

According to the head of the state company Avtodor, Vyacheslav Petushenko, construction and installation work is being carried out on the section of the M-1 Belarus highway from the 83rd to the 87th km.

“In addition to the construction of the turnaround overpass, we are building overground and underground pedestrian crossings, and have completed monolithic work. Now we are glazing the stairwells and the span structure at the overground pedestrian crossing, and we are doing interior finishing and arranging entrance groups at the underground crossing. In addition, we are continuing to construct nine exits from the expressway, united by distribution lanes. Thanks to them, separate traffic of transit and local transport will be organized, which will significantly increase the safety of drivers and passengers. Also, for the comfort of residents of SNT and populated areas located near the expressway, we are installing noise protection screens with a total area of 10.5 thousand square meters,” noted Vyacheslav Petushenko.

Additionally, at the 86th km of the M-1 “Belarus” it is planned to improve the adjacent territory to the monument to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. In particular, road workers will arrange pedestrian paths and parking areas, install outdoor lighting lines.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

April 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Polytechnic University presented its developments at the international conference on plasma physics

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

Students and postgraduates of the Institute of Physics and Mechanics of SPbPU took part in the international conference on plasma physics and controlled thermonuclear fusion in Zvenigorod. The organizers were the state corporation Rosatom, the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute and the Russian Academy of Sciences. More than 200 specialists discussed current issues related to plasma physics, plasma technologies and thermonuclear energy.

This year the conference was dedicated to the memory of Academician Evgeny Pavlovich Velikhov, an outstanding scientist and organizer who made an invaluable contribution to research in the field of plasma physics and controlled fusion in our country.

Participants discussed magnetic confinement of high-temperature plasma, inertial thermonuclear fusion, physical processes in low-temperature plasma, physical foundations of plasma and beam technologies, and much more. A separate section presented the results of work within the framework of ITER, the largest international project in the field of thermonuclear fusion.

At the plenary session, experts discussed the historical aspects of plasma physics and controlled fusion in our country, as well as current progress in the most important areas of plasma physics and thermonuclear energy. The teams of the Russian T-15MD and Globus-M2 installations, representatives of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center, the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and other major Russian research institutes, enterprises, and universities shared their work results. Students of the PhysMech Institute of St. Petersburg Polytechnic University were among the co-authors of a review report dedicated to the results of research on the Globus-M2 spherical tokamak operating at the Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Colleagues from the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) spoke about the current progress at the operating EAST tokamak and the new generation BEST and CFEDR installations being created. The report was given by the president of LiWFusion L. E. Zakharov.

Students and postgraduates of the Higher School of Fundamental Physics Research of the PhysMech Institute took part in the work of the section “Magnetic Confinement of High-Temperature Plasma”. Arseny Tokarev presented a study of the radial electric field during peripheral localized modes at the Globus-M2 tokamak, carried out with the support of a grant from the Russian Science Foundation.

Alexey Krivosheev and Yulia Lashkina analyzed the phenomenon of non-local heat transfer (NLT), which is observed in high-temperature plasma magnetic confinement installations during injection of macroparticles into the plasma, in particular, in the Japanese LHD heliotron. The work was supported by the Rosatom State Corporation and the Russian Ministry of Education and Science.

Mikhail Buts gave two reports. He spoke about the results of modeling the spectra of braking and recombination soft X-ray radiation of plasma in comparison with measurements obtained on a new X-ray spectrometer, created with his participation at the FT-2 tokamak. Mikhail also presented a method for processing diagnostic data using high-speed video filming.

Kirill Kukushkin demonstrated the results of modeling the Globus-M2 tokamak using the SOLPS-ITER code with an improved model for describing neutral particles. The work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. Dmitry Korobko spoke about the studies of the peripheral plasma of the Globus-M2 tokamak using the helium spectroscopy method with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science. Margarita Deryabina presented a report on the features of the influence of electromagnetic waves in the frequency range of the lower hybrid resonance on the plasma of the FT-2 tokamak. The reports of the Polytechnic University representatives aroused keen interest among the conference participants.

At the invitation of colleagues from Moscow, students and postgraduates of the PhysMech Institute visited the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center, where they observed an experiment on the T-15MD tokamak, as well as the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, where they got acquainted with the university tokamak MIFI-0 and the laboratories of the plasma physics department.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

April 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: The Future of Nuclear Energy: Lecture by Russia’s Leading Designer Vitaly Petrunin

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

The Institute of Energy hosted a lecture by the First Deputy General Director — General Designer of JSC Afrikantov OKBM, Honored Designer of the country Vitaly Petrunin. The topic of the speech was “Scientific and technical problems and prospects for the development of low-power nuclear power plants and atomic-hydrogen energy.”

Vitaly Petrunin analyzed the role of nuclear energy in the Russian energy balance, examining its historical development and current state. In his speech, he emphasized that revolutionary leaps are impossible in the nuclear sphere, and development occurs in stages, in an evolutionary way.

The expert presented a detailed analysis of the RITM-200 reactor plant used in nuclear icebreakers, as well as its land-based modification RITM-200N for SNPP. He highlighted the main differences between the ship and land-based versions, and spoke about scientific research into the reliability and safety of these solutions.

The scientist examined key aspects of modern hydrogen production and its prospects. In the context of the predicted growth of the hydrogen market to 400 million tons by 2050, including a 20-fold increase in consumption in the transport sector, the expert particularly emphasized the need to switch to low-carbon production technologies. Nuclear-hydrogen solutions were presented as a promising direction for decarbonization of this sector of the Russian economy.

“It is a great honor for me to learn directly from the creators of low-power reactors about a project that is today called one of the most promising in the field of peaceful atomic energy. The lecture was extremely informative, but the main thing is that I received answers to questions that I had been looking for for a long time and which are almost not covered in the literature,” said Yaroslav Vladimirov, Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Energy.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

April 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: NSU is represented in 10 RAEX subject rankings

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

Yesterday, the RAEX agency for the fourth time published subject rankings of the “Three University Missions” family. The lists of the best included 166 universities from 40 regions of Russia. This year, ratings were prepared in 35 subject areas – mathematics, a wide range of natural science and engineering specialties, social and humanitarian areas, etc. The ratings were formed on the basis of only objective data, the results of expert surveys were not used. NSU is represented in 10 ratings – 2 more than in 2024. Among the new areas in which the university is positioned are “information technology” and “mechanical engineering and robotics”.

NSU took the highest positions in the areas of “biology” and “chemistry”: the university entered the top 3 best universities in Russia. NSU is also in 5th place in “physics” and in 6th place in “mathematics”. The university’s positions in these four subject areas have not changed compared to last year.

The university improved its position in “information technology”: last year NSU was not positioned in this area, and compared to 2023, it rose by 2 positions and took 17th place. In “history and archeology”, it rose by one position and entered the top 10; in “sociology” – by 3 positions and took 11th place. For the first time this year, NSU is positioned in “mechanical engineering and robotics”: the university took 11th place.

— Novosibirsk State University traditionally occupies high positions in the natural sciences. The Faculty of Natural Sciences, the Physics Department and the Mechanics and Mathematics Department are known at the federal and global level, so applicants from all over the country come to us. Thus, at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, the share of out-of-town students exceeds 70%. The university also has strong training in the field of information technology, and NSU is currently actively developing such a promising area as artificial intelligence and machine learning. In the new educational model, we pay attention to the engineering research track. We have achieved significant results in this area, which is confirmed by our fairly high positions in the subject ranking for “mechanical engineering and robotics”, which we entered for the first time this year, — commented NSU Rector, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mikhail Fedoruk.

Reference:

Subject rankings are based on the assessment of three university missions: educational, scientific, and social. When assessing the first — educational — mission of universities, the quality of training of enrolled applicants, the university’s staffing, the competitiveness of the master’s program, the amount of funding, the results of students’ performance at Russian student Olympiads, and the number of massive online courses are assessed.

The indicators of the Science group include bibliometric indicators (publications and their citations), according to the Web of Science and RSCI databases, research income adjusted for scale, the scale of training highly qualified personnel (postgraduate studies), the number of dissertation defenses, as well as the share of extra-budgetary sources in the total volume of expenditure on scientific research and development.

When assessing the third, public mission of universities, both subject and institutional indicators related to the university as a whole were taken into account. For example, the university’s contribution to training personnel for the region, the share of students in the field on a national scale, the share of target students, the share of first-year students from other regions.

The methodology of subject rankings is developed taking into account the characteristic features of different spheres. Therefore, subject rankings use different sets of indicators and different weights. Thus, for the natural sciences and engineering areas, the weight of the “Science” group is 35%, while for the social and humanitarian spheres it is 25%. The weight of the “Education” group indicators for the natural sciences and engineering areas is 40%, while for the social and humanitarian spheres it is 50%. All indicators of the third group, “Society”, in both cases are 25%.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

April 25, 2025