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Category: Russia

  • MIL-OSI Russia: “Engineers of Victory” was shown in the White Hall

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    For three days, the White Hall hosted a theatrical performance dedicated to the memory of the Polytechnic students and teachers who participated in the Great Patriotic War. Students from all areas of SPbPU training were involved in this large-scale event. The audience and performers were united by the desire to preserve the historical truth and convey it through art.

    The play “Engineers of Victory” became an important part of the events of the Polytechnic University dedicated to the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

    The contribution of our university to the Victory is great. More than 4.5 thousand Polytechnicians fought at the front, the hydro corps housed a school for riflemen and radio operators, and the main building housed a hospital. Thanks to the engineers of the Polytechnic Institute, some of the best guns in the history of military equipment went on combat duty. From the stage of the White Hall, they told about the graduate of the mechanical engineering faculty Mikhail Koshkin, who created the legendary T-34 tank, about the graduate of the electromechanical faculty Pyotr Kapitsa, who received liquid oxygen and saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, about the Road of Life, about the protection of the navy from the enemy mine threat. But the most poignant moment of the production was the voiced letters from the front line.

    “We listened with special trepidation to the letters of students who went to the front,” shared IMMIT first-year student Sofya Kochkina. “And when you see their portraits with the date of their death, it is impossible to hold back your tears. They were the same age as us!”

    The production about the Polytechnic students of the war years involved today’s students: soloists of the SPbPU pop-symphony orchestra, members of the Student Theatre, the Polyhymnia Youth Choir, the Polytechnic Chamber Choir, and students of the Humanities Institute, which made the performance unusually touching and symbolic.

    Particular attention in the stage action was given to the atmosphere – lighting, video footage, sound effects allowed the audience to immerse themselves in the events of those years, to feel the pain of loss and the joy of Victory.

    “The audience stood up to the sounds of the metronome, because there was no other way to listen to the beats, which became a call to freeze and remember the Polytechnicians, whose portraits floated like a river through the White Hall as the Immortal Regiment. The audience also stood up when the choir performed the final composition, “Where does the Motherland begin?” said Marina Arkannikova, scriptwriter and director of the production “Engineers of Victory”, director of the Higher School of Media Communications and Public Relations of the State Institute of Culture, artistic director of the Directorate of Cultural Programs and Youth Creativity. “Of course, the production was special for all of us. This is our duty to the fallen heroes of the Great Patriotic War and such an important need today to talk to young people about our great historical past as part of our identity, about our contribution to the present and future of humanity.”

    The production, created by the Directorate of Cultural Programs and Youth Creativity with the support of the Polytechnic Museum, became a living history lesson for students.

    In a few days, the Immortal Regiment will “stand” on the SPbPU campus and on the territory of student dormitories — 80 portraits of polytechnic students who went to the front from their student days — so that everyone can feel that the Great Victory is backed by the lives of those who studied at our university, so that May 9 will forever become not only a date on the calendar, but also the history of every heart.

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Polytechnic University, Xi’an University Strengthen Cooperation at Anniversary Meeting

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    A delegation from Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University visited Xi’an University of Technology. The visit was led by Vice-Rector for Educational Activities Lyudmila Pankova. SPbPU representatives took part in the ceremonial events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of one of the leading technical universities in China.

    This visit was an important step in the development of a long-term strategic partnership between the two universities, which includes joint educational programs, scientific research and academic exchanges. The meeting began with a reception of the SPbPU delegation by the President of STU, Professor Yao Yao, who noted that cooperation between the universities, which officially began in 2018, is developing dynamically. During this time, significant progress has been achieved in joint projects, including the establishment of the Joint Polytechnic Institute in 2023 – a key link in the training of engineering personnel for Russia and China. President Yao Yao proposed expanding cooperation in master’s and postgraduate educational programs.

    Lyudmila Pankova conveyed congratulations from SPbPU Rector Andrey Rudskoy, who in his address called STU “a forge of talents” and emphasized that the joint initiatives of the two universities laid a solid foundation for long-term partnership. In response, the Chinese colleagues expressed gratitude for the support and noted that interaction with the Polytechnic University opens up new opportunities for students and researchers of both countries.

    The central event of the visit was the participation of the SPbPU delegation in a symposium on international education, where Lyudmila Pankova gave a report on “A New Model of Personnel Training to Achieve Technological Leadership”. In her speech, she shared the Polytechnic University’s experience in implementing innovative educational programs aimed at training specialists capable of responding to the challenges of the global economy.

    During the talks with Vice-Rector for Education and International Affairs Yan Li and Director of the Joint Polytechnic Institute STU-SPbPU Niu Tongjin, the parties discussed further development of cooperation, including expansion of student exchanges, joint research projects in the field of new materials, artificial intelligence and energy, as well as deepening interaction within the Joint Polytechnic Institute. The SPbPU delegation also visited advanced laboratories and research centers of STU, where they got acquainted with the latest developments of Chinese scientists.

    The visit ended with a constructive dialogue. Representatives of both universities confirmed their interest in further developing cooperation in science, education and technology, emphasizing the importance of sustainable ties between Russia and China.

    “Our cooperation with Xi’an University of Technology is not just an exchange of knowledge, but the creation of a single educational space where breakthrough ideas are born. The joint polytechnic institute has become a living example of how the academic traditions of Russia and the innovative potential of China are united to train highly qualified specialists of the new generation. Those who will determine the technological landscape of tomorrow,” noted Lyudmila Pankova.

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: International Book Day at the State University of Management was celebrated with a presentation of an author’s collection and a discussion on the role of AI in literature

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    On April 23, 2025, on International Book and Copyright Day, the Scientific Library of the State University of Management held a ceremony to present author’s copies of the collection of creative works “Towards Happiness” based on the materials of the II Inter-University Festival of Book Clubs “Living Hat”.

    Among the authors of the collection were representatives of Russian universities and colleges:

    State University of Management; All-Russian State University of Cinematography named after S.A. Gerasimov; State University of Education; College of Telecommunications of Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics; Moscow Business Academy; Moscow State University of Psychology and Education; Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL); Moscow Financial and Industrial University “Synergy”; National Research Nuclear University MEPhI; Russian University of Sport “GTSOLIFK”; Plekhanov Russian University of Economics; Saint Petersburg State University; Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

    The meeting was opened by the Rector’s Advisor, Head of the Department of State and Municipal Administration, and member of the Union of Writers of Russia, Sergei Chuev.

    “Now every author can publish his work, but being published among the best is a great source of pride for the author,” said Sergei Vladimirovich.

    Director of the Scientific Library of the State University of Management Olga Kharlamova expressed gratitude to the participants for their attention to the Inter-University Festival of Book Clubs “Living Hat” and invited them to join the work of the festival’s organizing committee in November.

    The head of the Literary and Theatre Club “GUUmanist”, a leading specialist of the Institute of Distance Education of the State University of Management Tatyana Rachek noted that such meetings are a huge incentive to support cultural values, to form patriotism in young people, and wished all participants of future competitions and festivals inspiration and new ideas.

    Leading specialist of the Scientific Library Evgeniya Drits invited new clubs to participate in the Festival in 2025.

    After the award ceremony, an interesting discussion took place. One of the main questions was whether it is acceptable to use AI in literature:

    Can neural networks be trusted to create full-fledged works of art? Does AI help develop a writer’s imagination or, on the contrary, hinder the manifestation of creative individuality? Should AI’s work be perceived as a threat to classical creativity or as a useful tool to support the writer?

    The participants spoke openly and sincerely, with many arguments and examples from personal experience. Some said that AI is a new thing, and, like everything new, we are free to treat it with caution. But this does not mean that neural networks are bad. Their use is acceptable in the context of helping the author. Others insisted that the use of neural networks in literature is unacceptable, and AI is only good for pulp novels. Some supported the idea that AI helps to complete images, complement existing ideas. It is just a tool, it does not generate texts entirely and can only help a person, but not replace him. And neural networks that generate images help aspiring authors who want to promote their work, but cannot afford the services of an illustrator. In this case, AI is beneficial, since it helps to promote new talents. Most participants agreed that artificial intelligence can really become an excellent assistant to a writer, complementing and enriching creative ideas. It is important to remember that true art is created by man, and the tools only support the flight of his imagination.

    The authors shared stories about their first attempt at writing, discussed the problem of the author’s responsibility for their readers, and reflected on imitating the style of the greats. They also read their poems and prose. The participants of the event left autographs and good wishes for the Scientific Library of the State University of Management.

    Representatives of book, literary, and poetry clubs highly appreciated the initiative of the Scientific Library of the State University of Management to form an active community that supports cultural values, uniting students who are passionate about reading, and supporting the creativity of young authors.

    The collection “Towards Happiness” is already in the collection of the Scientific Library of the State University of Management.

    Until next time, full of warmth, smiles and interesting conversations!

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: A representative of Setl Group held a master class on the Renga program for the finalists of the TIM Championship

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – During the master class

    In the era of import substitution and well-known geopolitical events, the focus of attention of enterprises, developers, and educational institutions is focused on the transition to domestic digital solutions. The finalists of the All-Russian TIM Championship at SPbGASU. SPO League 2025 developed competition projects in the Renga program – a Russian comprehensive BIM system for automated three-dimensional design using the technology of information modeling of buildings and structures. Therefore, the master class of the chief engineer of the architectural bureau “Setl Group” Dmitry Sergeev aroused keen interest among the contestants.

    “When assessing the situation with foreign vendors, we tested many domestic products. We took into account the labor costs associated with them, time, capabilities, compliance with the standards that we need to organize the work process. Renga was the best choice. But we understood that for objective reasons, third-party libraries would not work for us, because some contain slightly different information, while others do not have what we need at all. Therefore, we created our own library of standard elements that we and our clients use in modeling. A year later, we made it widely available: anyone can download it for use both for educational purposes and for work. As a pilot project, we designed a standard residential complex of varying heights in Renga, the highest section is 23 floors. And then we realized that the existing computers could not handle the full model, so we divided it into sections. Subsequently, we purchased more powerful computers,” said Dmitry Sergeev.

    Using this project as an example, the expert explained the entire design process step by step, including water supply, electricity and other utilities, architectural drawings, and finishing materials. In addition, he clarified how and why the team made this or that decision during the design process.

    “All this work is carried out by teams, which include many young specialists. Our architectural bureau is happy to employ them. There is a mentoring system for adaptation, so we will be glad to see you in our architectural bureau. For internships, employment, you can contact the career start on our company’s website by sending an application,” concluded Dmitry Sergeev.

    Victoria Zinchenko, a student at the Novgorod Construction College, noted that she was pleased to listen to a lecture directly from an industry representative working at Renga.

    “It was interesting to learn how the bureau created all the families for further work in the program. We work on this software at college, and I believe that even with the existing nuances, the program can become a worthy competitor in the market. I am very grateful to the organizers for the opportunity to gain such practical knowledge about it,” Victoria shared.

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Digital Transformation of Management: All-Russian Conference Held at GUU

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    On April 24, the Institute of Information Systems of the State University of Management hosted the VII All-Russian scientific and practical conference “Digital Transformation of Management: Problems and Solutions”.

    Traditionally, the purpose of the conference is to exchange experience, information, and research results between scientists from leading universities, practicing specialists from IT companies, and start-up entrepreneurship, shaping the formation of “education-business-science” clusters.

    The organizers selected the best reports for participation, reflecting the modern scientific and practical interests of scientists from leading Russian universities in the field of developing digital solutions and control automation: State University of Management, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow Aviation Institute, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Saratov State Technical University named after Yu.A. Gagarin, Crimean Federal University named after Vernadsky, Kazan Innovative University, etc.

    The event discussed issues of forming an individualized educational trajectory using a composition of educational technologies, integrating artificial intelligence into management processes, ensuring corporate information security, priorities and drivers of digitalization in agribusiness, using unmanned aerial vehicles and building platform solutions and hybrid DSS for managing processes in agriculture, developing a computer vision model for detecting documentary areas of interest, using mathematical modeling tools for analyzing mortgage lending, labor migration, etc.

    At the conference, Sergei Golovashov, Head of the Competence Center at Bell Integrator, also shared his experience in ensuring corporate information security.

    It is noteworthy that young scientists took an active part in this year’s conference: senior bachelors, master’s students and postgraduates of the IIS SUM.

    Participants of the conference “Digital Transformation of Management: Problems and Solutions” noted that holding such scientific events has great theoretical and practical significance for improving the processes of digitalization of management and solving new problems that arise as challenges to the development of modern society.

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: GUU took part in the discussion of the ECG rating and the role of large families in the development of Russia

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    Director of the Center for Assessment and Development of Management Competencies of the State University of Management Anton Velichko, as part of the national standard project “Index of Business Reputation of Entrepreneurs (EKG-rating)”, took part in the work of the Annual All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference of the D. I. Mendeleyev Institute of Demographic Policy “From the Year of the Family to the Century of the Family”.

    The plenary session of the conference was attended by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairperson of the Presidential Council for the Implementation of State Demographic and Family Policy Tatyana Golikova, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District, member of the Presidential Council for the Implementation of State Demographic and Family Policy Igor Shchegolev, Head of the Presidential Administration for Public Projects Sergei Novikov, Chairman of the State Fund for Support of Participants of the NVO “Defenders of the Fatherland”, State Secretary – Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Anna Tsivileva, Chairperson of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture, Executive Secretary of the Presidential Council for the Implementation of State Demographic and Family Policy Liliya Gumerova and others.

    The event was attended by more than 400 representatives of government bodies, scientific, educational and public organizations, and businesses.

    The past Year of the Family allowed us not only to focus on the demographic agenda, but also to understand the fact that the Russian family should never again fall out of the sight of the state and society if we are talking about the preservation and development of the Russian nation and statehood.

    The aim of the conference is to find effective solutions in the area of population conservation and improvement of demographic policy, as well as corporate practices to support families with children.

    The annual All-Russian scientific and practical conference of the D. I. Mendeleyev Institute of Demographic Policy “From the Year of the Family to the Century of the Family” is organized with the support of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation.

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

    Центра оценки и развития управленческих компетенций ГУУ Антон Величко в рамках проекта национальный стандарт «Индекс деловой репутации субъектов предпринимательской деятельности (ЭКГ-рейтинг)» принял участие в работе Ежегодной всероссийской научно-практической конференции Института демографической политики имени Д….” data-yashareImage=”https://guu.ru/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9380-scaled.jpg” data-yashareLink=”https://guu.ru/%d0%b3%d1%83%d1%83-%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%b8%d0%bd%d1%8f%d0%bb-%d1%83%d1%87%d0%b0%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b8%d0%b5-%d0%b2-%d0%be%d0%b1%d1%81%d1%83%d0%b6%d0%b4%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b8-%d1%8d%d0%ba%d0%b3-%d1%80%d0%b5/”>

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Successes in Reverse Engineering: GUU Project Receives Positive Opinion from RAS

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    The research team of the State University of Management, implementing the project “Development of scientific and methodological foundations for managing technological processes of reverse engineering in the transport industry of mechanical engineering”, received a positive conclusion from the Russian Academy of Sciences based on the results of the reporting period in 2024.

    The fundamental research is aimed at developing theoretical and methodological principles of industrial economics, as well as tools for making management decisions to ensure import substitution. The relevance of the research is confirmed by the consideration of issues of managing technological processes of reverse engineering when solving complex problems of import substitution in the transport industry of mechanical engineering of the Russian Federation.

    Scientific results of the first stage of work:

    The study of the state of the transport industry during the period of import substitution was carried out, risks were identified and solutions were outlined; the role of reverse engineering as a tool for import substitution in the transport engineering industry was substantiated and the main stages of reverse engineering were determined; an overview and assessment of existing reverse engineering technologies for transport engineering products using Russian and imported equipment were proposed; a methodology and an information model in the form of an algorithm were developed that take into account the most frequently used tasks of reverse engineering; a methodology for decision-making and risk assessment was developed that takes into account technical, technological and economic aspects, which allows preventing and minimizing possible negative consequences of reverse engineering; the role of standardization as one of the important tools of import substitution contributing to an increase in the orderliness of production, acting as a guarantor of the quality and competitiveness of products was proven.

    According to experts, the results obtained during the implementation of the first stage of the project are significant for the development of this field of science in Russia and the solution of specific applied problems. The methodology for managing technological processes developed during the study is universal and will be useful not only for industrial enterprises in the transport industry, but also for any enterprises in the mechanical engineering industry.

    “The results of the study may be relevant for optimizing the existing scheme for organizing reverse engineering processes in the transport industry of mechanical engineering, as well as for forming an effectively functioning scheme for organizing the management of reverse engineering processes in the transport industry of mechanical engineering in the short, medium and long term. The significance of the obtained results for specific applied tasks of the Russian Federation is confirmed by the possibility of their use in the educational process when giving lecture courses on industrial policy, supporting government decision-making in the industrial sphere and ensuring national security issues, including import substitution issues, including in the transport industry,” the RAS experts noted.

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Students of Novosibirsk State University will be able to study development using programs from Yandex Education

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

    The educational modules were developed by Yandex experts and will be integrated into bachelor’s programs for IT specialists and will be enhanced with applied disciplines and company cases. At NSU, the platform for the implementation of the new modules will be Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics. The university will be able to integrate one or several modules: on backend, frontend and mobile development. The program will have an academic supervisor from Yandex, who will be responsible for the content of the module and its adaptation at the university.

    — It is important for us that high-quality IT education is available to students all over Russia, so we are expanding our partnership with regional universities. Universities get access to educational content from the company’s experts and a course for teachers on modern methods of teaching IT disciplines. We also involve Yandex employees in teaching programs. And already in the new curriculum, students from 17 regions of the country will be able to study development on our modules — from Primorsky Krai to Kaliningrad Oblast, — noted Daria Kozlova, Director of Yandex Education.

    Students will master applied development in Python, JavaScript, React or Django, learn to work with API services and manage server infrastructure.

    — The Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics strengthens partnerships with companies. We are glad that this year students of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics will be able to become full participants in the program from Yandex Education. Now we are recruiting teachers, and then it is up to the students. I know that our students are interested in relevant applied knowledge, but the company’s course is a responsible matter, when choosing it, you need to correctly approach the balance of study time, — emphasized Anastasia Karpenko, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of NSU.

    From September 2025, educational programs from Yandex Education will appear for the first time in 5 new regions: Voronezh, Kaliningrad, Rostov, Tula regions and Krasnoyarsk Krai.

    This initiative is part of Yandex’s large-scale program to develop education. In 2025, Yandex will invest more than 5 billion rubles in training specialists in IT and artificial intelligence, launching new educational programs, and developing solutions for school and higher education. The total number of Yandex partner universities will reach 39, and the number of joint programs with universities will exceed 70. More than 15 thousand students will be able to study in them, which is 50% more than last year.

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: FF student is the strongest weightlifter in Novosibirsk region

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

    In the weightlifting competitions within the framework of the 48th Universiade among students of higher educational institutions of the Novosibirsk region, NSU was represented by only one athlete, but he showed the best result in the weight category up to 102 kg.

    Physics student Alexander Burov won a brilliant victory in the biathlon, which includes the clean and jerk and the snatch. Three attempts are given for each exercise, and the total is the sum of the maximum weights lifted.

    Shortly before the Universiade, Alexander also won the Novosibirsk Region Championship, lifting a total of 217 kg.

    Congratulations to the athlete on his gold medals at the regional competitions! We wish him further success in sports and studies!

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: NSU plans to create specialized international classes to prepare for university admission on the basis of Chinese schools

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

    Novosibirsk State University plans to begin training Chinese schoolchildren for university admission. For this purpose, specialized “international classes” with a total of 60 people will be created on the basis of Chinese schools. The training will be conducted in the natural sciences, and the curriculum will be built on the model SUNC NSU (Physics and Mathematics Schools). Classes are scheduled to open in September 2025.

    NSU is taking a strategically important step by creating a school-university system for Chinese students. This will not only attract talent to Russia, but also strengthen scientific and educational cooperation between the countries.

    From March 28 to April 4, a working trip of the heads of educational institutions of Novosibirsk and Izhevsk to Henan Province, PRC was organized. The initiators of this project were Novosibirsk State University and Izhevsk State Technical University named after M.T. Kalashnikov. The delegation included: Head of the Education Export Department of NSU E.I. Sagaydak, Director of the Novosibirsk Institute for Monitoring and Development of Education of the Novosibirsk Region N.V. Yaroslavtseva, Deputy Director of the Institute O.V. Nedosyp, Head of the Education Department of the Kochenevsky District Administration A.S. Bobin, Director of the NSTU Engineering Lyceum M.A. Bezlepkina and Director of School No. 112 V.N. Platonov, as well as other directors of schools and lyceums from Izhevsk.

    During the week, the Russian delegation visited several secondary educational institutions, including the school at the Shaolin Monastery, Kaifeng Vocational College and the education departments of the cities of Henan Province: Dengfeng, Zhongmou, Kaifeng and Xinxiang, as well as the Russian Cultural Center in Beijing.

    During the visit, a productive exchange of experience in the field of teaching methods and pedagogical practices took place. Particular attention was paid to the development of a cooperation strategy in the following areas: teaching Russian and Chinese languages, academic mobility of schoolchildren and teachers, and the development of joint educational programs, including the creation of “international classes”.

    Four schools in Henan Province — Zhongmou Foreign Language Middle School, Zhongmu No. 3 Senior School, Xinxiang No. 7 Senior School, and Henan Normal University Affiliated Xinxiang Middle School — held official ceremonies to award these schools a special status: training talents for admission to Novosibirsk State University. These schools will host Olympiads in mathematics, physics, and information technology, and the winners and prize winners will be able to study in Russia at the expense of the Russian Federation budget.

    — One of the tasks that NSU sets for itself is to increase the number of foreign students, including those from China. We strive to select the most talented and gifted schoolchildren. Therefore, NSU is selecting strong secondary schools in China to create specialized “international classes” where joint training of schoolchildren will be organized for early career guidance and preparation for admission to our university, — noted Evgeniy Sagaydak, Head of the NSU Education Export Department.

    Teaching in “international classes” will be conducted in the last three years of school: in the first year, students will study Russian with a visiting teacher from Russia; in the second year, they will study mathematics, physics and chemistry under the guidance of teachers from the NSU SUNC; in the third year, students will study at home or be invited to the NSU SUNC. The students will be trained in the natural sciences using the model of early entry into science, which has been successfully implemented and used for over 60 years at the NSU Physics and Mathematics School.

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Press Briefing Transcript: Middle East and Central Asia Department, Spring Meetings 2025

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    April 24, 2025

    Speaker: Mr.Jihad Azour, Director of Middle East and Central Asia Department, IMF

    Moderator: Ms. Angham Al Shami, Communications Officer, IMF

    MS. AL SHAMI: Good morning. Thank you for joining us in this press briefing on the Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia. My name is Angham Al Shami, from the Communications Department here at the IMF. 

    If you’re joining us online, we do have Arabic and French interpretations that you can access on the IMF Regional Economic Outlook webpage and the IMF Press Center as well.  And for those of you in the room, you also have equipment to access that. 

    Today I’m joined by Jihad Azour, the Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department, who will give us an overview of the outlook of the region, and then we will open the floor for your questions. With that, over to you, Jihad.

    MR. AZOUR: Thank you very much, Angham. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the IMF 2025 Spring Meetings. Before answering your questions, I will briefly outline the economic outlook for the Middle East and North Africa as well as the Caucasus and Central Asia.  Let me first start with a few words on the recent developments.

    The global economy stands at a delicate crossroads.  The global recovery of recent years faces new risks as governments reorder their policy priorities.  The recent escalation in trade tensions has already damaged global growth prospects while triggering intense financial volatility.  More broadly, the extraordinary increase in global uncertainty associated with trade policy and increased geopolitical fragmentation will continue to erode confidence for quite some time and represents a serious downside risk to global growth.

    For MENA and CCA economies, these developments are adding to existing regional source of uncertainty, including ongoing conflicts, pockets of political instability and climate vulnerability.  We continue to assess the impact of recently announced U.S. tariffs on MENA and CCA economies.  While the direct effects are expected to be modest, giving limited trade exposure and exemptions for energy products, the indirect effects could be more pronounced.  Slower growth will weaken external demand and remittances, while tighter financial conditions may challenge countries with elevated public debts.  Oil exporting economies could also see fiscal and external positions deteriorate due to the lower oil prices.  Some countries may benefit from trade diversion, but such gains could be short lived in a broader environment of trade contraction. 

    Let me now turn to the Middle East and North Africa.  Last year was particularly challenging for the region.  Conflict caused severe human and economic costs.  Regional growth in 2024 reached 1.8 percent, a downgrade revision of 0.2 percentage point from the October World Economic Outlook forecast.  Conflicts weigh on growth in some oil importing countries and extended OPEC+ voluntary production cuts continue to dampen activity in oil exporting economies.  For GCC countries, strong non-oil growth and diversification efforts were largely offset by oil production cuts. 

    Despite these challenges and high uncertainty, growth is projected to pick up in 2025 and 2026, assuming oil output rebounds, conflict related impacts stabilize, progress is made on structural reform and implementation.  However, expectations have been revised down compared to the October 2024 Regional Economic Outlook, reflecting weaker global growth and more modest effect of these drivers.  We now project growth at 2.6 percent in 2025 and 3.4 percent in 2026, a downward revision of 1.3 and 1 percentage points, respectively.  Inflation is projected to continue declining across MENA economies, remaining elevated only in few cases. 

    Let me now turn to the outlook for the Caucuses and Central Asia.  In contrast, economic activity in the CCA exceeded expectations in 2024, growing by 5.4 percent, driven by spillover effects from the war in Ukraine, which boosted domestic demand.  However, as these temporary effects normalize over the next few years, growth is expected to moderate due to weaker external demand, plateauing growth of hydrocarbon production, and reduced fiscal stimulus.  Despite the moderation in overall growth, inflation is expected to increase somewhat across the region and remain elevated in a few cases, reflecting still strong domestic demand. 

    Let me now turn to the risks to the outlook.  These projections are subject to extraordinary uncertainty and the risks to the baseline forecast remain tilted to the downside.  Four key risks stand out.  First, trade tension as a further escalation could dampen global demand, delay in oil production recovery, and tighten financial conditions.  Our analysis shows that persistence spikes in uncertainty triggered by global shocks are associated with large output losses both in MENA and CCA.  The second risk is geopolitical conflict.  The third one is climate shocks.  And the last one is the reduction in official development assistance.  This could further exacerbate food insecurity and humanitarian conditions in low-income and conflict-affected economies.  However, upside risks also exist.  The swift resolution of conflict and accelerated implementation of structural reforms could substantially improve regional growth prospects.  The implications of a potential peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine for the CCA region also remain uncertain. 

    Now the question is what are the policies that we recommend for countries and how they should prioritize them.  In the face of extraordinary uncertainty, MENA and CCA economies should respond along two key dimensions, manage short term instability, and use the opportunity to advance structural reforms for long-term growth.  The first priority is adapt to the new environment.  Countries must take steps to shield their economies from the impact of worst-case scenarios and prioritize safeguarding macroeconomic and financial stability.  The appropriate policy response will vary depending on each country’s initial conditions and vulnerability to risk. 

    Turning to more the long-term, countries should transform their economies.  Recent developments underscore the urgent need to accelerate the long-discussed structural reforms agenda across the region.  To reduce vulnerabilities to shocks and seize opportunities arising from the evolving global trade and financial landscape, it is essential to enhance governance, invest in human capital, advance digitalization, and foster a dynamic private sector.  Establishing strategic trade and investment corridors with other regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, as well as within the region, including between GCC and Central Asia or GCC and North Africa, can help mitigate exposure to external uncertainty, enable greater risk sharing, and drive sustainable economic development. 

    We will delve into these policy priorities at the launch of our Regional Economic Outlook in Dubai next week and in Samarkand, in Uzbekistan, where on May 3 we are organizing jointly with the Uzbek government a GCC-CCA Economic Conference where Ministers of Finance and Governors of Central Banks from both regions, as well as representatives of IFIs and private sectors, will discuss deepening economic ties between these two regions.  We also invite you to join us tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at the Atrium for a public panel discussion on the economic consequences of the high uncertainty in the MENA and CCA regions. 

    Before I open the floor to questions, I want to underscore the IMF’s deep commitment to supporting countries throughout the region with policy advice, technical assistance, and, in many cases, financial support.  Since early 2020, we have approved almost $50 billion in financing to countries across the MENA region, Pakistan, and the CCA, of which 14.8 have been approved since early 2024. 

    In closing, I want to highlight our engagement to post-conflict economies.  Strengthening economic fundamentals and rebuilding institutions will be essential to successful recovery.  The IMF, in coordination with the World Bank and regional partners, has established an informal coordination group to support recovery in conflict-affected states in the Middle East.  Our focus will be on capacity building, policy guidance, and financial assistance.  We are also working closely with authorities to help stabilize their economies, restore confidence, and lay foundations for sustainable growth. 

    Again, thank you very much for joining us this morning, and now I would like to welcome your questions.               

    MS. AL SHAMI: Thank you very much, Jihad, and now we will take your questions. And let’s start with the gentleman here in the first row, please.

    QUESTIONER: Thank you, Angham and Jihad.  I’m Amir Goumaa from Asharq Bloomberg.  IMF raised the gross forecasting for Egypt dispIte the regional downgrade.  Why is that?  And how can the MENA region turn the country trade disputes into opportunities? 

    MR. AZOUR: Excuse me?

    QUESTIONER: How can the MENA region turn the current trade disputes and tariffs into opportunities?  Like how can they make the best use of it? 

    MR. AZOUR: Thank you very much for your question.

    MS. AL SHAMI: Should we take more questions on Egypt? Perhaps should we take more questions on Egypt. We’ll start with this gentleman and then the gentleman in the back.  This one first. 

    QUESTIONER: Hello everyone.  My name is Ahmad Yaqub.  I’m the managing editor of Al Youm Al-Sabah Egyptian Newspaper.  I have two questions about Egypt.  The first one is about the expected exchange rate of the Egyptian pound against the U.S. dollar by the end of 2026, the next year, and the expected inflation rate and the economic growth rate of Egypt.  The second question is the next trench of the program, current program with the Egyptian authorities.  What is the timing of the next trench and the total amount of it?  Thank you so much. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: And then the gentleman here.

    QUESTIONER: Ramy Gabr from Al-Qahera News.  The global economic outlook carries good news.  Maybe for Egypt in terms of the economic growth in 2025.  How do you see that and what’s the facts and numbers led to this outlook?  Thank you. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Over to you.

    MR. AZOUR: Thank you very much. Yes, please.

    QUESTIONER: I’m Lauren Holtmeier from S&P Global.  I wanted to ask about the fiscal break-even prices for oil production, specifically for the countries with high fiscal break-even prices like Saudi Arabia and Iraq.  And how will the lowered expectations for oil prices over the next couple of years affect their ability and their economic outlook?  And I recognize that the answer for those two countries might be very different. 

    MR. AZOUR: Thank you very much. I had three sets of questions. One on trade and the impact of the recent trade developments on the region and how those could be turned into an opportunity.  The second set of questions were on Egypt, and the third one was on the GCC and the oil market.  Let me start with the first one. 

    Countries of the region have limited trade dependence on the U.S., and therefore the recent trade and tariff decisions will have limited direct impact on those economies.  Yet it’s important also to highlight that there would be indirect impact.  And also those indirect impact may take different channels.  One impact is the impact that this could have on financial stability and capital flows.  We saw widening of spreads over the last few years, which is an issue that could affect the capacity of emerging economies and middle-income countries who have high levels of debt.  The second potential impact is impact on oil market.  We saw some softening in the oil price, as well as the forwards of oil price are showing a certain extension of those softening over the year.  And the third type of effect is the second-round impact due to trade diversion. 

    I will maybe go into more details about what are the policies that we recommend for countries to address those challenges.  Few countries have more exposure to the U.S. trade like Pakistan or Jordan, and those are specific cases.  I can address those.  Opportunities, of course, in any change there are opportunities, and over the last few years we saw successive shocks and transformation on the geopolitical front and the geoeconomic front, and those have affected the region.  The region stands at the crossroads between East and West, and therefore trade routes, connectivity, as well as also opportunities go through this region.  This would require, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, for countries in the region to seek new opportunities in terms of strengthening their economic relationships and trade ties with regions close to them, as well as also within countries in the region, which will call for new way of increasing connectivity and cooperation in the region. 

    The second set of questions is on Egypt.  Over the last year, growth in Egypt has improved, and we expect growth for the fiscal year 2025 to reach 3.8 percent.  For comparison, in 2024 it was 2.4 percent, and we expect that the growth will keep improving in 2026 and reach 4.3 percent.  Also, inflation went down from 33 percent on average for fiscal year 2024 to 19.7 percent in 2025, and we expect it to reach 12 percent in 2026, despite the various shocks.  Those positive developments reflect the implementation of the reform program that was supported by the IMF and was augmented back in March last year in order also to help Egypt address some of the external shocks, in particular the decline in revenues from the Suez Canal. 

    As you remember, the program is based on four pillars.  One, macroeconomic stability by addressing inflation that constitutes the main issue for economic stability through tightening the monetary policy.  The second is to address the debt issue by improving the primary surplus and also through an active debt management strategy and strengthening debt management organization to reduce gradually the debt and the weight of the debt through the debt service on the economy.  The third important pillar is to preserve the economy from external shocks, and this is the role of the flexibility in the exchange rate.  Flexibility in the exchange rate in a time of high level of uncertainty plays an important way to protect the Egyptian economy from external shocks, and its flexibility has proven to be beneficial to the stability of the Egyptian economy.  The fourth pillar is growing the economy and give a bigger weight to the private sector, and we encourage the authorities to strengthen and accelerate the reinvestment strategy that would allow more investment to come to the Egyptian economy, would give more space to the private sector, and will help the Egyptian economy and the Egyptian people get better opportunities in a time where those international changes would require an acceleration of economic transformation.  The review has been completed in March, and as you know, we had also another facility that was provided to Egypt to help Egypt deal with climate issues, and our engagement with the authorities remain very active.  Shall I move to GCC? 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Yes.

    MR. AZOUR: The next trench will be with the next review. On the GCC, well, of course the direct impact of the trade shock on the region has been limited except that with the prospect of the decline in oil price, it comes at a time where we see a resumption of increase of oil production with the implementation of what has been agreed, though at a slower pace, of the December decision of the OPEC+ agreement.

    As you know, countries of the GCC have different fundamentals and different level of buffers, and therefore there is no one break-even point for all countries.  Our estimates are showing, though, that a decline in oil price of $10 would weaken the fiscal situation by somewhat between 2.3 to 2.7 percent of GDP, and it also, it has similar impact on the external account between 2.5 to 2.7 percent of GDP. 

    I would like to highlight two additional points that some countries have used the opportunity of their diversification strategy to both reduce their dependence on oil as a source of income, but also to diversify fiscally and reduce the impact of oil revenues, which we encourage other countries to follow suit. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Thank you, Jihad. So we’ll take another round of questions from the room, and then we will turn to online. The lady in the first row, please. 

    QUESTIONER: Dr. Jihad, thank you for taking my question.  Nour Amache from Asharq Bloomberg.  I wanted to ask about Lebanon and Syria and to follow up on what my colleagues here asked about Egypt.  They were asking about the next review, if it’s in June, and the next tranche in June, if we can elaborate on that.  Now, regarding Lebanon, today the parliament passed the law of lifting bank secrecy.  Will this make or will this make the program with the IMF faster?  Will this increase the prospects of a program with Lebanon anytime soon, especially since I know the Lebanese authorities represented by the Finance Minister, the Economy Minister, and the Central Bank Governor are all here in Washington, and a lot of meetings have been undergoing?  That’s regarding Lebanon.  And regarding Syria, also a big Syrian delegation is here.  What has been reached so far with the Syrian counterparts?  Thank you. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Thank you. One more question. Maybe we’ll go to the gentleman in the front here. 

    QUESTIONER: Thank you.  Mohammad Al-Lubani from Jordan Al-Mamlaka TV.  I’d like to ask in Arabic.  In light of our dependence on American exports, [ESQUAH] said that 25 percent of the exports go to the United States.  How would the tariffs affect Jordan, and are there any estimates of these losses by the Fund?  And what are the recommendations of the Fund in order to face these challenges? 

    MR. AZOUR: The discussions are, you know, continuing, and the engagement with the authorities is taking place during the Spring Meetings. As I mentioned earlier, we look forward to the next review to see an acceleration of the divestment strategy that is one of the key priorities because of its critical impact on sustaining growth in Egypt, providing opportunities to the private sector, and also helping in the effort that Egypt is pursuing in reducing the debt. In the context of high interest rate, it’s very important to address debt service issue, and this would be accelerated by reducing the debt.  Therefore, we look forward to see progress on the authorities’ plan in terms of divestment.

    On Lebanon, the Fund has been supportive of Lebanon, and a staff-level agreement has been reached in 2022.  Lebanon staff, Lebanon team, is and remained actively engaged with the authorities, providing technical assistance.  And recently, we had two staff visits to Lebanon and the authorities have engaged with our team in order to reactivate a potential program.  They have expressed their interest for that.  The Lebanese economic and financial situation has been made

    more challenging with the recent implications of the war and the massive destruction that in addition to the need to address the financial and economic situation, Lebanon is also facing the need to deal with the reconstruction. 

    The pillars of the program will remain valid as they were negotiated.  Macroeconomic stability, based on addressing the legacy of the financial sector.  The legacy of debt, address the debt issue.  Second pillar is to deal with the macroeconomic stability through fiscal consolidation.  Third pillar is to strengthen governance by reforming SOEs and also increasing and improving the confidence factor.  And third is to address social issues, especially now with issues related to the reconstructions.  Discussions are taking place and staff is on active dialogue with the Lebanese authorities. 

    We are in discussion and therefore I think the discussions that we are having during the Spring Meetings are giving the opportunity for us to understand what are the reform priorities of the Lebanese government.  As you know, staff had a couple of visits in the last few weeks, and we will keep our active engagement with the Lebanese authorities.

    On Syria.  Of course, Syria has been absent for the last 15 years due to the war, and their engagement with the institution has been fairly limited since 2011.  The last Article IV consultation with Syria took place in 2009.  The international community and the regional community has been actively engaged in order to see how we could help Syria recover from a long period of war. 

    We had a preparatory meeting preparatory meeting in AlUla back in February where regional institutions and the international community have agreed to have another follow-up coordination meeting that took place last Tuesday where representatives from international institutions, bilaterals, have convened in order to assess the needs of Syria and also to develop a framework of coordination.  The Fund is engaged to support the international community in its engagement with Syria.  We have already started our assessment of the macroeconomic situation, the institutional capacity, and we look forward to continue our engagement with the Syrian authorities. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Then you have one more question on Jordan.

    MR. AZOUR: Yes, Jordan. In Arabic?  Okay.  Jordan is one of the countries that have been affected by the tariffs, but this is still limited because of the kind of exports or the relationship between Jordan and the United States.  And Jordan managed to overcome, in the recent years, to overcome several shocks, including shocks related to the variability and volatility and the effect of the Gaza issues on the economy of Jordan.  And the latest reviews emphasized the need for Jordan to keep stability and also, despite the external shocks, to take the needed measures in order to improve the macroeconomic situation and to reinforce the economy.  And there has been discussions about supporting Jordan through a new mechanism, the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, in order to help Jordan in the measures that would help it improve adaptation with the climate change and other shocks and other pandemics.  There is actually progress in this regard.  And there will be a review next month by the Executive Board of the Fund about Jordan. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: We’ll turn to Dania, who’s on Webex online. Dania, please go ahead. 

    QUESTIONER: Hello, can you hear me? 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Yes, you can hear you.

    QUESTIONER: Hi.  Hello Dr. Jihad, I just have a follow-up question on the break-even oil prices for the Gulf.  In the October report, countries like Saudi Arabia had a very high break-even price of around 90.  I think it was the second biggest highest in the GCC after Bahrain.  I just wanted to see, this figure is likely to increase given the high expenditures, the lower oil prices.  How will the lower oil prices — you mentioned about the impact on GDP, but the prices, I think, since the beginning of the year have dropped by more than $10.00.  So, the impact has it been considered in the Regional Economic Report?  And especially because I don’t know the report, did it include the impact of the tariffs and the impact of the increase in OPEC production from May, which is accelerated?  And just one clarification, with regards to Saudi break-even, some analysts include the expenditure of the Public Investment Fund.  Is that part of the IMF estimates for the break-even?  What’s included in the break-even?  Thank you very much. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Thank you. Any additional questions on GCC? Okay, let’s take the gentleman in the middle. 

    QUESTIONER: Hello Mr. Azour, Madame Al Shami, thank you for the opportunity.  Philippe Hage Boutros from L’Orient-Le Jour, Lebanon.  How does the IMF assess the potential impact of declining oil revenues stemming from a possible drop in prices amid the tariff crisis on the capacity and willingness of the Gulf countries to fund international aid, particularly for countries like Lebanon and Syria that urgently need reconstruction financing?  Does it anticipate a significant or relatively limited effect?  Thank you. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Thank you. And we had one more question on Saudi that we received online. In light of the global trade repercussions, what is the effect on the Saudi market, especially on inflation and growth?  This question comes from Mohammed Al Sulami from Al Akhbariyah in Saudi Arabia. 

    MR. AZOUR: Let me start with Dania’s question. Dania, let me start by saying that over the last few years from a fiscal perspective, Saudi has made a significant improvement through various reforms in order to diversify revenues outside oil and also reduce certain expenditures, including on the subsidy side. And this effort to diversify revenues has led to an increase of non-oil revenues in the GDP for Saudi.  Of course, the last couple of years have been beneficial in terms of providing Saudi and other GCC countries with surplus in the fiscal as well as also in the current account, which have led to increase in buffers.  Of course, still the oil sector represent an important source of revenue and it’s still also an important source of foreign currencies. 

    Coming to the fiscal strategy, Saudi has established a medium-term fiscal framework that anchors policies and also help them deal with the volatility in oil price and become less pro cyclicals.  Of course, the increase in oil price, sorry, the decline in oil price will have impact on the fiscal and will lead to a potential additional drop in fiscal situation. 

    As I mentioned earlier, a decline of $10.00 per barrel or a decline of $1 million of production will have an impact on the fiscal between 2 to 3 percent.  The decline in oil price is accompanied with a recovery in oil production and Saudi was one of the largest, I would say, contributor to the voluntary drop in oil export. 

    When it comes to the link between fiscal and the investment strategy, the investment strategy has been also put in the medium-term framework in the context of the Vision 2030 and regularly there are updates, recalibration and also phasing, based on the capacity to implement and the priorities.

    In our projections, although developments were taking place almost at the time when we were releasing our outlook, we took into consideration the new assumptions on the oil price for this year as well as also on the growth projections. 

    The second question related to Saudi.  The impact of the latest developments on the Saudi economy.  Undoubtedly, the trade relations regarding the non-oil sector is limited with the United States and therefore the impact will also be limited on trade related to tariffs, especially as oil and gas are exempt from the increase in tariffs.  But there will be an indirect impact, as we’ve said.  Saudi Arabia also has a dollarized economy, whether on the side of exports or imports, and therefore the impact will be limited. 

    On the other hand, the reduction or the depreciation of the dollar will affect services, especially tourism.  And this is a sector that Saudi Arabia is trying to develop by establishing new expansion for tourism in Saudi Arabia.

    The other related question on support to the reconstruction in the region.  Let me first say two things.  One, ODA has declined over the last few years, and more recently with the decisions to stop some of the international assistance by USAID and others.  This will have an important impact, especially on countries in fragility who depend heavily on aid.  Countries like Somalia, Sudan, countries like Yemen.  And this represents a risk not only on the fiscal side, but also on the humanitarian side on food security.  This is the first point. 

    The second point is the region is, we’re talking here about the Levant, is going through an important prospect of post-conflict recovery.  Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and hopefully, Yemen, and Sudan.  This would require strong international and financial assistance.  Of course, this also would require to accelerate certain number of reforms that will allow the private sector to provide financing.  Those countries have strong diasporas, and the recovery could also be co-led by international assistance, also by private sector support.  And some of the reforms, be it in Lebanon or in Syria, are very important to regain confidence and will allow private sector to play its key role in recovering those economies. 

    The region has been very supportive.  And when we look at the official assistance and the interest that is being shown by several countries in the region, be it in the recent meeting that took place in Saudi Arabia, in Al Ula, where ministers of finance from the GCC and regional institutions convened in order to explore opportunities to provide more assistance to those countries. 

    Again, I think it’s very important also to highlight that assistance has to accompany reform programs that will lay the ground to strong institutions will provide confidence for both citizens and also international, private and public community, in order to accelerate the recovery. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Thank you, Jihad. We’ll take one more round of questions.  The lady on the second row here, please. 

    QUESTIONER:  Hello, I’m Mariam Ali from Dawn News Pakistan.  My question is how will the global tariff war uniquely impact Pakistan?  Any need of buffers in place to mitigate risks to the country?  Thank you. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Thank you. Let’s take maybe one more question. The gentleman here sitting in the front. 

    QUESTIONER: Thank you, , Director Azour.  My question is on Yemen.  Igor Naimushin, RIA News Agency, D.C. Bureau.  So, last week U.S. struck Ras Isa fuel part in Yemen.  I would like to ask you to outline what repercussions this strike will have on energy security and economic situation in Yemen and broadly in region?  And if you could, provide any details how the IMF — what is the IMF view on longer-term risks for the region as U.S. operation on Yemen continues to unfold?  Thank you. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Thank you. We’ll take one more question from the gentleman here in the –.

    QUESTIONER: Hi, my name is Magnus Sherman.  I wanted to return to Lebanon.  The new Prime Minister has pledged to not touch the hard currency deposits.  Does the IMF support that position? 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Thank you. And we have an online question from Camille Faris Abu Rafael. How can low- and middle-income countries in MENA balance urgent social needs with long-term fiscal sustainability amid rising debt and global uncertainty and persistently high interest rates?  We’ll take these questions, and we’ll take another round.  Thank you. 

    MR. AZOUR: On Pakistan. Pakistan made significant progress in restoring macroeconomic stability over the last 18 months and the numbers are, for Pakistan, are showing improvement both in terms of growth as well as also in inflation that dropped from 12.6 percent last year in 2024 fiscal year to 6.5 percent this year, expected to stay at this level for next year.  Debt is also stabilizing in the case of Pakistan, and recently Pakistan has been upgraded by rating agencies. 

    Of course, trade tensions will affect relatively Pakistan maybe more than the average in the region.  But I would say the impact on Pakistan directly can be offset by other measures that would allow the Pakistani economy to reposition itself in a world that is in the midst of one of the largest transformation in terms of trade, economic opportunities, and to reposition itself in order to address any risks, but also to potentially benefit from change in the trade routes. 

    The question on Yemen the situation on Yemen is extremely preoccupying at the humanitarian level, both in terms of food security as well as also in terms of human suffering.  And this situation has been inflicting heavy toll on the Yemeni people for a long period of time.  Of course, broadly speaking, instability has been one of the main issues that the region is dealing with.  Instability is one of the key sources of uncertainty for the region.  Addressing this instability is key in providing security for people to improve their living conditions, providing stability for the trade routes, and also provide opportunities for people to rebuild and reconstruct.  The Fund is engaged to (A) keep a very strong contacts with Yemen, provide technical assistance at a time where we cannot provide because of the security situation, financial assistance.  Therefore, we are actively supporting through technical assistance.  And we are also in regular engagement with the authorities. 

    Our next plan is to reengage through Article IV in order to assess the economic situation in Yemen, help the internationally recognized government assess the overall debt situation and the debt liabilities in order, later on, to help Yemen deal with the debt situation, and provide right assessment for the donor community to provide assistance. 

    Political stabilization security is very important to preserve human and social conditions, and the Fund stands ready to help Yemen as well as also other countries facing fragility and conflicts in the region.  And this is something that we are increasing our resources to provide support to those countries. 

    Lebanon.  Lebanon problems are complex in terms of how to address the overall financial challenge.  The solution has to deal through a comprehensive approach with all the financial issues that Lebanon is facing.  A piecemeal approach is not what Lebanon needs today.  A reform package that restores confidence, addresses the legacy of the past, provides opportunities for the economy to recover, by also promoting the capacity of the financial system to finance the recovery, mobilize international assistance to help Lebanon dealing with the reconstruction needs, and also support the reforms are priorities that our team is currently discussing with the Lebanese authorities. 

    The question related to balancing short-term and medium-term.  I think it’s a very important question.  We live currently in a world of high uncertainty and in our outlook this spring we have — and I would encourage you to read it,  it’s very interesting piece — we have tried to assess the impact of uncertainty on the region and the uncertainty is of multiple layers.  A global uncertainty, regional, geopolitical and conflict situation, but also internal or local uncertainties.  Those are important issues for countries to address. 

    In very brief, countries need to in the short term to preserve stability and that would require to increase their buffers.  And for those who have limited buffers to accelerate fiscal consolidations to reduce the risk, address some of their financing issues, especially countries who have high level of debt and for those who have buffers, preserve those and use them when they need.  But I think what is really important, especially given the lasting negative impact of uncertainties on countries, is to address the medium-term issues.  And addressing the medium-term issues will help unlock growth, accelerating structural reforms, improving economic conditions, provide stronger social protection framework by moving from untargeted subsidies to something that is more meaningful in terms of social support would be extremely beneficial for countries in the region. 

    MS. AL SHAMI: Thank you very much, Jihad and I’m afraid we have run out of time. Thank you all for participating with us today and as always, we will be posting the transcript online.  But just a reminder that we will be launching our report next week on May 1 so stay tuned for that.  And as Jihad mentioned, please join us tomorrow at 2:30 for the seminar on how countries can navigate uncertainties.  Jihad, any last words? 

    MR. AZOUR: Only to say thank you. And thanks to our friends here, the journalists. We look forward to provide you with more details in Dubai next week with all the details, as well as also country-specific information on our Regional Economic Outlook.  And two days after that, in Samarkand, in Uzbekistan, on the outlook for Caucasus and Central Asia.  Thank you very much. 

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Angham Al Shami

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

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/04/24/tr-04242025-mcd-press-briefing-sms-2025

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Joint Statement by Saudi Finance Minister, IMF Managing Director, and World Bank Group President on Syria

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    April 24, 2025

    Washington, DC: Mohammed AlJadaan, Finance Minister of Saudi Arabia; Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF); and Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group (WBG) issued the following statement:

    “On the sidelines of the 2025WBG/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, we co-hosted a high-level roundtable for Syria, bringing together the Syrian authorities, finance ministers and key stakeholders from multilateral and regional financial institutions, as well as economic and development partners.

    “Building on earlier discussions –including at the Paris Conference on Syria (February 13), the Al Ula roundtable on February 16 (See Press Release), and Brussels IX conference (March 17)— this event provided a platform for the Syrian authorities to present their ongoing efforts to stabilize and rebuild their country, reduce poverty, and achieve long-term economic development.

    “There was broad recognition of the urgent challenges facing the Syrian economy and a collective commitment to support the authorities’ efforts for recovery and development. Priority will be given to efforts to meet the critical needs of the Syrian people, institutional rebuilding, capacity development, policy reforms, and the development of a national economic recovery strategy. The IMF and WBG were called upon to play a key role in providing support in line with their mandates and reflecting shareholders’ support, in close coordination with multilateral and bilateral partners.

    “We welcome the efforts to help Syria reintegrate with the international community and unlock access to resources, to support the authorities’ policy efforts, address early recovery and reconstruction needs, and promote private sector development and job creation. We also support the Syrian authorities’ efforts to strengthen governance and increase transparency as they build effective institutions that deliver for the people of Syria.

    “We extend our gratitude to all participants for their valuable contributions and commitment to support efforts by the Syrian authorities to rebuild Syria and improve the lives of the Syrian people. We look forward to reconvening, by the Annual Meetings of the IMF and WBG in October 2025, to monitor the progress achieved and harmonize global efforts in advancing Syria’s economic-recovery and prosperity.”

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Wafa Amr

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

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/04/24/pr25120-syria-joint-statement-by-saudi-finance-minister-imf-md-wbg-president

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: On April 25, Mikhail Mishustin will hold talks with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Kokhir Rasulzoda

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    On April 25, in Moscow, Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin will hold talks with Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Kokhir Rasulzoda.

    The heads of government plan to discuss current issues of Russian-Tajik trade, economic, investment and cultural-humanitarian cooperation. Special attention will be paid to the implementation of major joint projects in the fields of energy, industry, agriculture, education and culture.

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Sergey Kiriyenko and Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the NTO organizing committee and greeted the participants of the Fakel award

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    The National Center “Russia” celebrated the tenth anniversary of the National Technology Olympiad (NTO). On this day, the fifth meeting of the Olympiad organizing committee and the Fakel Prize award ceremony took place – an award for NTO graduates who have achieved significant results in science, engineering, business and mentoring.

    The meeting of the organizing committee was opened by the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration, co-chairman of the organizing committee of the National Technology Olympiad, Sergei Kiriyenko.

    “Since 2015, NTO has brought together almost 900,000 schoolchildren and students from all over Russia, as well as 77 other countries. The Olympiad, originally conceived as an all-Russian engineering competition, has gradually reached the international level. However, NTO is not only about scale. The main thing here is people. Young, bright, talented guys who are already creating the future today. Some of the winners’ projects can be compared to serious scientific works worthy of the level of candidate dissertations. We are confident that with the launch of the 11th season, the number of participants will exceed a million. But what is more important is not quantity, but quality – young people who really change reality with their ideas and developments,” he said.

    Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko added that next year it is necessary to increase the number of participating countries, and also thanked the NTO partners.

    “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our leading technology partners – companies such as Sber, Yandex, Roscosmos, 1C and others. Thanks to their support, the Olympiad is held at a truly high level. I am sure that this list will expand. And NTO will become an even more powerful tool for developing talents and strengthening international scientific and technological cooperation,” Dmitry Chernyshenko emphasized.

    During the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister supported the inclusion of new areas in the NTO for grades 5–7 and the launch of the International Space Games. He also instructed to work out the possibility of adding individual educational events of the NTO to the calendar of the “Movement of the First”.

    Nikita Anisimov, Rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics and Deputy Co-Chairs of the Organizing Committee of the NTO, spoke about the development of the Olympiad movement and the results of the decade of the NTO. He noted that the NTO preserves and continues the traditions of the Moscow Mathematical Olympiad: it is a movement that brings together like-minded people and comrades. Nikita Anisimov also emphasized that the NTO has grown over the past years. For example, the first final of the Olympiad brought together about 1.2 thousand participants, and this year there were already about 220 thousand.

    Hero of Russia, participant of the presidential program “Time of Heroes”, Chairman of the Board of the “Movement of the First” Artur Orlov noted that the “Movement of the First” project “First in Science”, implemented within the framework of the national project “Youth and Children”, will become an important platform for interaction on the development of scientific and technical cooperation.

    After the organizing committee, the Fakel Prize was presented. At the ceremony, Sergei Kiriyenko emphasized the importance of holding it at the National Center “Russia”, created on the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    “I am sure that not much time will pass and the results of your projects, your discoveries and your dreams that came true will be presented here as a source of pride,” said Sergei Kiriyenko.

    The shortlist of the award included 21 applications. The selection of candidates for the final list of applicants took place in several stages: first, the applications were selected for compliance with all criteria, then a public vote took place. Based on its results, a shortlist was formed, which was then evaluated by an expert jury.

    “It is very symbolic that the first celebration of the winners of the Fakel Prize is taking place in the year of the tenth anniversary of the National Technology Olympiad. As Sergey Vladilenovich decided, and we included this in the protocol, this will now be an annual event. In addition to encouraging the winners, it is important to remember those who prepared them. These are mentors, teachers, parents, and our technology partners who helped create conditions for the implementation of opportunities and talents, as instructed by our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. So that together we can ensure not just technological sovereignty, but also technological leadership of our country. Thank you very much, congratulations to the winners. Create, dare, try, everything will work out!” Dmitry Chernyshenko addressed the guests of the award.

    In the Startup Leader category, the award was received by Daniil Zaitsev and Anastasia Popova, the authors of the SkyControl system for controlling UAVs using hand tilt and gestures. It involves children and teenagers in the world of robotics and technical sciences.

    The winners in the Social Progressor category were the creators of the Green School project – Polina Sapozhnikova, Anna Budekova and Matvey Karachev. They create green corners with information stands and thematic cubes in schools. This helps to form ecological thinking and eco-habits in the younger generation.

    The title “Professional of the Future” was awarded to German Golod, who, as a student, works as a 1C developer at T-Bank. According to him, participation in the NTO helped him acquire the necessary skills. Dmitry Shpanov, who developed a computer model for selecting the mode of electron-beam processing of alloys or ceramics, was recognized as “Innovation Engineer”.

    The winner in the “Technology Champion” category was Eduard Sukharev, a multiple winner of Russian and international competitions in the operation of unmanned aircraft systems.

    The title of “Best Mentor” was awarded to Arseniy Yarmolinsky, a computer science teacher and teacher of additional education, who trained dozens of finalists and winners of NTO and other engineering competitions.

    The winner in the “Engine of Science” nomination was Maria Tishkova, a junior research fellow at the Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

    Let us recall that the Olympiad is being held under the coordination of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation together with the presidential platform “Russia – Country of Opportunities” within the framework of the national project “Youth and Children” with the support of the “Movement of the First”, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the ANO “NTI Platform”. The NTO project office is deployed at the HSE with the methodological support of the Association of Participants of Technology Circles (NTI Circle Movement).

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Spring Meetings 2025 Press Briefing Transcript: Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four (G24)

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    April 24, 2025

    SPEAKERS:

    Chair: Pablo Quirno, Secretary of Finance, Ministry of Economy of Argentina

    First Vice‑Chair:  Olawale Edun, Federal Minister of Finance of Nigeria

    Second Vice‑Chair: Jameel Ahmad, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan

    Director: Iyabo Masha, G‑24 Secretariat

    MODERATOR:

    Pavis Devahasadin, Communications Officer, IMF

    Mr. Devahasadin: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Pavis Devahasadin, Communication Officer from the IMF’s Communication Department. I would like to welcome everyone here in this room and our online audience to the press conference on the Intergovernmental Group of 24 on International Monetary Affairs and Development or G‑24.

    Before we begin, I would like to remind you that we have simultaneous translation in English, French and Spanish. It is my honor to introduce the distinguished panel at this table, the Chair of the Ministry of the G‑24 at the center is Mr. Pablo Quirno, Secretary of Finance of Argentina. To his right is Mr. Vice Chair, Mr. Olawale Edun, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy. To the left of Mr. Chair is Second‑Vice Chair Mr. Jameel Ahmad, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan. Of course, at the other end of the table is Director of G‑24 Secretariat Ms. Iyabo Masha. Without further ado, may I invite Mr. Quirno to give some remarks. Mr. Chair, the floor is yours.

    Mr. Quirno (Argentina): Thank you, Pavis. Dear members of the press, I would like to extend a warm welcome to each and every one of you as we gather for this press conference. You have at your disposal our comprehensive communiqué and press release encapsulating the discussions held today. Allow me to briefly highlight the key takeaways.

    We are witnessing a major transition in how the global economy works and processes of change such as these always involve intervals of great volatility and uncertainty. Our communiqué reflects that the recent economic developments have driven uncertainty to elevated levels. In this context, emerging market and developing economies face additional challenges stemming from both external conditions and domestic factors.

    On the external front, many EMDEs continue to face elevated public debt levels and rising debt servicing burdens. The prevailing environment of still tight global financial conditions is exacerbating these challenges, constraining fiscal space, and forcing difficult tradeoffs between repaying creditors and investing in critical areas for productivity, growth and development. These also represent a risk to macroeconomic stability, as debt maturities and rising debt service payments hinder fiscal consolidation plans, which are necessary to tackle domestic imbalances, maintain price stability, and foster a stable macroeconomic environment for investment and growth.

    On the domestic front, weak fiscal fundamentals are at the core of macroeconomic instability, while many of us face longstanding structural policy challenges that hold back productivity and competitiveness.

    The building up of external and fiscal imbalances amid public spending pressures that exceed revenues and with constrained access to international financial markets further erodes macroeconomic stability.

    Furthermore, domestic environments perceived as unsafe for investment dominated by overly complex legislation and inefficient and burdensome tax systems add to macroeconomic instability to further discourage much‑needed private capital inflows.

    As stated in the communiqué, domestic policymaking is the first line of defense. The best way to enhance short‑term domestic responsiveness, as well as medium‑term growth capacity is through solid macroeconomic frameworks combined with clear rules that foster a predictable environment for private investment.

    Pivoting to our fiscal consolidation to set debt on a sustainable path and rebuild buffers while advancing with productivity‑enhancing‑market reoriented structural reforms must remain priorities for the domestic policymaking. Whereas doing so while maintaining social cohesion and protecting the most vulnerable can be challenging, it can be achieved with careful policy calibration.

    But as these measures may take some time to deliver, mobilizing sufficient international support is also crucial to help countries meet their financing needs while they navigate the waters towards a healthier economy. The Bretton Woods Institutions remain crucial, necessitating decisive actions to fortify the Global Financial Safety Net and broaden development finance. The IMF’s role as a centerpiece of the Global Financial Safety Net is vital in addressing multilateral challenges and supporting vulnerable countries. We appreciate the IMF’s recent reforms to better support EMDEs, such as the recent review of the charges and surcharges policies.

    However, countries with limited access to affordable short‑term and crisis‑related liquidity continue to face vulnerabilities. It is essential to address liquidity pressures and strengthen crisis prevention and response capabilities, including enhancing existing financial safety nets. Surveillance and internal and external stability should be intensified, including on spillover effects from systematically important countries. The World Bank has made progress in implementing the Evolution Program, but further progress is required in operationalizing key aspects of the framework of financial incentives and reducing IBRD loan pricing. Faster implementation of the remaining G‑20 Independent Experts Groups Recommendations on MDB reforms is needed, including mitigating currency risks through local currency lending and domestic capital market reforms, de‑risking private‑sector investment, and increasing capital within the WBG and across the MDB system.

    Swift progress on the 2025 shareholding review is necessary to address misalignments, strengthen voice and representation, enhance IBRD legitimacy, and ensure equitable voting power.

    In sum, the path to sharp growth and a steady growing economy is multifaceted. We must do our part and commit to strengthen fiscal and monetary frameworks, build robust institutions, and embrace structural reforms that promote competitiveness, productivity gains, and job creation, but at the same time we need global financial institutions that recognize domestic efforts and are willing and well‑prepared to step up for these countries. Thank you, and with these remarks, I am now ready to entertain your questions.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Before we begin the Q&A section, I kindly ask that all questions remain within the scope of the G‑24’s mandate and responsibilities. Other questions outside of its purview, of course, should be raised during the regional press conferences that are going to be taking place in the coming days. And please kindly identify yourself, your organization, your news outlet, and specify to whom your questions would like to be addressing. With that, any questions? Yes, sir.

    QUESTION: Good morning to everybody. Mr. Quirno, you just said that the Bretton Woods Institutions are crucial. Does any of you feel that their role, their functioning is endangered currently? Thank you for answering this question.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Thank you.

    Mr. Quirno: I think globally we are facing a period of volatility and uncertainty. As such, the Bretton Woods Institutions are crucial in providing the safety net and the channels of communication that remain open among the different countries that participate in those institutions. And I think the role is very, very important. And we do not see them—I mean, we are always rebalancing their role and their task, and it is something that is a process that we do constantly. At the end of the day, the role is vital. It is very important, and we do not see them at risk as you put it.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Minister Edun.

    Mr. Edun (Nigeria): Thank you. I agree with the Chair that there is nothing that we have heard that says that the Bretton Woods Institutions stands ready to do anything other than on the one hand, provide safety net. On the other hand, continue to provide development finance. If anything, this time of heightened global uncertainty, what we have heard from them is that they stand ready and are very much willing and capable to help countries to navigate this particular time and to continue to encourage good policymaking, to encourage resilience, building of resilience, building of buffers and effectively staying the course for those who are actually on a path that will take them further along the road to growth development and reduction of poverty.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Thank you. Governor Ahmad or Ms. Masha, would you like to add anything?

    Mr. Ahmad: No, it is OK. I think we fully agree with the views expressed by the Chair and the Vice. I think the increased uncertainty and the prevailing situation, it has become much more important for the Bretton Woods Institutions to continue to play their role and particularly as the financial safety net providers and also as the development partners. I think they have a role which will continue to be there, and they will be contributing in the performance of the road previously—that they have been doing previously, so I fully agree.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Thank you. Ms. Masha?

    Ms. Masha (G-24 Secretariat): Yes. We believe that the organizations are very useful, and the usefulness is very much appreciated, and so we do not have any uncertainty about their continued relevance. And we do hope that whatever actions countries are taking, the advanced economies are taking, they will factor into their decision the very good usefulness of these organizations. Thank you.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Thank you. Going back to the floor. Any question? Right here, lady with the glasses.

    QUESTION: My question is for Mr. Jameel Ahmad. What steps is the State Bank of Pakistan taking? Is it engaging with other central banks to mitigate risks, particularly in the G‑24 framework? Thank you.

    Mr. Ahmad: I think as initially said that if there is any specific questions pertaining to the State Bank, we can discuss that during the separate conferences, which we have, but for the time being, since we are in the G-24 platform, we are coordinating with other central banks, and we discussed all these issues during the yesterday’s Deputies Meeting as well as today’s meeting also of the G-24. These are the issues faced by the G-24 members and have been thoroughly discussed and the stance has been agreed upon. This is what is contained in the communiqué which is being issued today.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Going back to the floor, maybe in the midsection I saw some hands. I will start with you in the black. Thank you. We are going to make our way back. Yes.

    QUESTION: So, I have a couple questions for everyone here. First of all, how concerned are your members from the fallout from tariffs and what are they trying to do to try to mitigate the impacts? Also, are you planning to work more closely with each other, for instance, increasing trade with each other? And lastly, specifically, are you planning on working more closely with China, for instance?

    Mr. Devahasadin: Just to add to that, I got an advanced question Sri Lanka. In the light of reciprocal tariff currently in place, what strategy is the G‑24 considering as a working group to alleviate the pressure on emerging economies? So that is related to your question as well. Mr. Chair.

    Mr. Quirno: Thank you. Thank you for the questions. I think that it is important to understand that the G‑24 is a very diverse group of countries, and everyone, each of us has its own peculiarities, strengths, and weaknesses in the midst of the current trade situation. So, what I would say is that the fallout of this uncertainty that we are facing creates more volatility. And as emerging market countries and developing countries, what you face is a situation in which, in addition to the trade tensions, you have a situation on the capital markets and the capital flows, things that are based on the uncertainty. What happens is flows are expecting a solution. As one of the members said today, we can deal with good news. We can deal with bad news. We need to know what to do under uncertainty. You know, as we are going through this process of trade negotiations globally and as definitions are set, then we will know how to react. In the meantime, as we said in the communiqué and as we said in my opening remarks, the first line of defense, the thing that is within our country’s contro, is around the domestic agenda. We need to bring resilience into our own economies in such a way that we have a fiscal path that is credible, that we have sound monetary policies as well that back that fiscal consolidation program, because at the end of the day that is what investors are looking at.

    Investors are looking at the different countries’ situation and see how they can cope with this level of uncertainties. We have faced different levels, different crises in the past — globally, the pandemic being the last one. And we have, as a collective number of countries, been able to achieve a level of resilience that is very good. I mean, that resilience is being tested once again. That is why we also need to work in conjunction among the different countries, not only G‑24 but in a global context to address the situation. But I think the homework also needs to be consolidated at home in order to then continue moving forward. And as such, we are also obviously fostering our trade relationships among the different countries. We are doing it among the G‑24, among G‑20, so there are various areas of cooperation and consolidation there as well.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Any perspective from Ms. Masha in terms of coordination, collaboration across nations?

    Ms. Masha: Well, I think the Chair has pointed out some of those issues regarding macroeconomic stability, that is when these shocks manifest, there’s need for fiscal policies, sound monetary policies. But more along that line, it also provides opportunities for countries to pivot towards a different development pathway. Maybe going into sectors that are going to satisfy domestic demand will make them less prone to external shocks and diversifying their markets, the different markets, so they can better cope with the future tariff or trade policies. Thank you.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Thank you. Going back to the floor, I see hands right there all the way in the back, the lady in beige. We will come back to the front.

    QUESTION: Thank you for taking our questions. A question for everyone, sort of piggybacking off of my colleague’s question on tariffs. How does the G‑24 weigh the inflationary risks versus risks of recession from the current tariff environment? And then one for the Argentina Secretary, you spoke about debt maturities and rising debt payments, more than 4 billion in debt many coming due for Argentina in July right after an ambitious reserve target accumulation from the IMF. How does Argentina plan to confront those payments and is there a target that it is looking back to return to capital markets? Thank you.

    Mr. Quirno: In terms of the first question related to inflationary pressures and related to the trade situation, we had this morning the World Economic Outlook conference in which we had details on that perspective, but I think also it is very early to tell on how this is going to at the end of the day be moving forward. We are not in the business—at least I am not in the business of projecting inflation in my own country. It is very difficult to try to project inflationary pressures on a global basis, but I think it is—as I said before, we are living in uncertain times. We expect that trade negotiations that are currently underway reach a good point that is satisfactory to everyone involved, and that will normalize trade flows from that perspective onwards. In terms of Argentina—I mean, despite the fact that it is a common theme throughout the G‑24—what we are trying to do in Argentina for the last 15 months is basically gain our credibility back. And as such, we have elected a very conservative and unorthodox approach to the problems that Argentina had. And one of the problems that Argentina had was on the fiscal front. And we have done a tremendous fiscal consolidation. We put our house in order, on the monetary front as well. And that track record is one that will put us in a path to regaining market access eventually.

    Having said that, from my perspective, as the CFO of the country, what I can say is that we work at it very conservatively. I am not assuming that Argentina will be able to re‑access markets at a given time. But we have certainty that the maturities are coming due. That is why we have worked in the past in showing our willingness to pay. We have honored all our commitments. We have now a new IMF program, which has started to work very well, as expected. And in addition to that, because of that conservative, look, we have already accumulated reserves. The Treasury has bought a significant amount of dollars that it has at the central bank to honor those obligations. So, we do not expect to—we cannot speculate about when Argentina will be able to re‑access international markets. When those will happen, when that situation happens, we will address it. But in the meantime, we still work as if we have no access, and we have to pay down our obligations as we did in this last 15 months.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Thank you, I see three remaining hands. I will come back to the front with the lady in the brown jacket first and then I go to that side of the room. I see two hands. Please keep your questions short. We have limited time. Thank you.

    QUESTION: Hi. My question is regarding—we have seen the U.S. called back on some of the financings that it gives to developing economies, so in terms of financing the sustainable development goals, as well as climate action, could you talk about some of the challenges there?

    Mr. Devahasadin: Are your questions related to climate so we can collect them both? Anyone on climate here.

    Mr. Quirno: We face several challenges and as such, for that, many countries rely on the World Bank and the IMF, to basically be able to develop tools to finance that development, finance climate action, to finance infrastructure, and as such, we are at a period in which you have to—countries have to balance that in turn with their own macroeconomic situation in that respect. We need to—we have many of our countries in the G‑24 have significant natural resources that need to be developed. Those are the ones that are part of the transition energy, for example. And those are situations in which you cannot access private financing. The role of development financing in terms of climate, in terms of energy transition, et cetera, is very important. But those are challenges that are on the table that we need to address, and we are addressing together as a group and as an individual country as well.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Thank you. Go back to the floor. Gentleman back here and we can go all the way back to you, sir.

    QUESTION: Thank you. Two questions. You brought back fiscal discipline to Argentina, but can you quantify the harmful effects on the lives of the citizens? That is what want to talk about, the strikes, the protests, the fact that people do not have money in their pockets. Secondly, you also talked about building resilience, how do we build resilience where most of the countries in the G‑24 have one similar problem, a lot of visionless leadership, definitely, and a lot of poverty. Our arms are already tied behind our hands economically. How do you expect us to build resilience?  We are just led to the slaughter slap.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Thank you. Can I go all the way back to the back, the gentleman in the back, please?

    QUESTION: Thank you for taking my question. I wanted to touch on debt restructuring. In October you called on the reform of the Common Framework, and I am curious to know more about what sort of reform moves you have seen since then and also what types of reforms the G‑24 would like to see to the Common Framework. Thank you.

    Mr. Quirno: To the first question, I hate to make reference to Argentina, but the question was directly addressed to that situation. Argentina was facing a very dire situation—55 percent poverty rate before this administration took office. We have worked very, very strongly to do a couple of things that basically went straight to address that situation by having done our fiscal consolidation. We basically reduced 5 percentage points of GDP deficit in a month, something that has not been done probably anywhere else in the world so far. But we did it because we knew that we had no alternative. And at the end of the day, what happened is that the myth is that by doing such an adjustment, you would enter into a deep recession. Argentina rebounded out of its recession that was two and a half years long two months after that fiscal consolidation.

    Since then, real wages have increased for 10 months straight. Poverty levels have been reduced from 54 percent to 38 percent in about a year. And economic activity has increased 6 percent December 2024 from December 2023 when we took over. It can be done. That is the message. You know, there is preoccupations before, during such a big adjustment as we did, but it pays out. It takes the political will to do it. Everyone knows what needs to be done on the fiscal and monetary fronts. The books have been written about it. What happens is you need the political willingness to attack the problem because that may hurt politicians when they make those decisions. We have a very strong leadership in President Milei — the one that has said we need to go in this. What he has said is we need to take care of the most vulnerable. We doubled in real terms, while being able to achieve our financial surplus. We were able to double in real terms the assistance to the most vulnerable. And that is something that basically shows the amount of corruption and intermediation that was on the social plans that the national government was spending on. So now those funds have been redirected. It is funny that we doubled the expenditures in real terms, but the amount that people received more than tripled. We spent 100, and we are now spending 200 in real terms. People got 60. They received 60, and then they are receiving 200. That is a big—very big realization from the most vulnerable population that they have been robbed for years. Because by maintaining fiscal consolidation, by maintaining a financial surplus, we were still able to double the assistance to the most vulnerable.

    Mr. Devahasadin: We go to Ms. Masha on debt restructuring because you spoke about it last time.

    Ms. Masha: Debt restructuring?

    Mr. Devahasadin: The Common Framework. Yes, the progress on that.

    Ms. Masha: I want to add a little to what the Chair said in response to the question before I go to the Common Framework.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Yes.

    Ms. Masha: That is just to say that the G‑24 member countries, we have some of the largest economies in the world as members of G‑24, and the good thing is that the growth, the size of their economy, most of them over the past two or three decades, China, India and Brazil. So that takes a lot of vision. That takes a lot of implementations of the right policies. So, it is not quite a visionless leadership, but they have had to take policies that enable the countries to achieve what they have been able to achieve over such a short period of time.

    On the Common Framework — where we are on the Common Framework is that some countries have used it. Some have found it beneficial. The only complaint—well, some of the complaints we have heard about is that the process takes a very long time. And during that long time, they are not able to access the market, or they have to take some difficult decisions when they do not know how it is going to play out. And we also made that position known. The second, the other issue is we need more participation of the private market, maybe of also multilateral development banks, and also to have some precise idea of how it will play out. Some middle‑income countries have been asked to be a part of it. That is not really in discussion now, but all in all, countries have benefited from it, but there could be more benefit. Thank you.

    Mr. Devahasadin: Mr. Chair, you would like to add anything?

    Mr. Quirno (Argentina): No.

    Mr. Devahasadin: We are out of time. Unfortunately, Minister Edun had another obligation. If you have any follow‑up question, send it to press@G24.org. That was in the advisory, how to contact the G‑24. The communiqué should have been posted on IMF.org and the transcript of this press conference will be made available later. Thank you very much for joining this press conference and have a good rest of your day. Thank you.

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Pavis Devahasadin

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

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/04/24/tr-04242025-g24-press-briefing

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Spring Meetings 2025 Press Briefing Transcript: The Managing Director’s Press Briefing on the Global Policy Agenda

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    April 24, 2025

    Speaker: Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF

    Moderator: Julie Kozack, Director, Communications Department, IMF

    Ms. Kozack: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this IMF press briefing. I am Julie Kozack, Director of the Communications Department. Thank you so very much for joining us this morning and, as usual, we are going to begin with some opening remarks from our Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, after which we will turn to your questions. Without further ado, Kristalina, over to you.

    Ms. Georgieva: Thank you, Julie. And a very warm welcome to all the journalists who got up early to be with us on this beautiful Thursday morning, and also to those who are online. Great to have you with us.

    As you saw earlier this week in our latest World Economic Outlook, we have significantly downgraded our projections for global growth. Major trade policy shifts have spiked uncertainty off the charts, accompanied by tighter financial conditions and higher market volatility. Simply put, the world economy is facing a new and major test, and it faces it with policy buffers depleted by the shocks of recent years. That puts countries in a difficult position. It also creates urgency for action to strengthen the economies for a world of rapid change.

    Today, I want to zoom in on how countries can actually do it. This is the main question we are getting from our members in every single meeting I have had this week. In my Global Policy Agenda, let me, for the audience, remind you that it is a very nicely crafted document. In parentheses this year we have very informative charts, and I hope you will look into those as well. In it, we focus on both the immediate challenges and our medium-term directions. I emphasize three overarching priorities. First and most urgent, for countries to work constructively to resolve trade tensions as swiftly as possible, preserving openness and removing uncertainty. A trade policy settlement among the main players is essential, and we are urging them to do it swiftly because uncertainty is very costly. I cannot stress this strongly enough.

    Without certainty, businesses do not invest, households prefer to save rather than to spend, and this further weakens prospects for already weakened growth.

    Countries also need to address the imbalances that fuel many of the tensions we see. Among major economies, some countries like China need to act to boost private consumption and embrace a shift to services. Others, like the United States, need to reduce fiscal deficits. And in Europe, it is time to complete the Single Market, Banking Union, Capital Markets Union, removing internal barriers to intra-EU trade. Get it done. All countries should seize this moment to lower their trade barriers, both tariff and nontariff.

    The second overarching priority, countries must act to safeguard economic and financial stability. The best way to do that is to get their own house in order. On fiscal policy, most countries need to rebuild buffers and ensure debt sustainability, although some may see shocks that warrant temporary and targeted fiscal support.

    We urge countries to define credible adjustment paths, gradual in most cases, protecting key investments, maximizing spending efficiency, and making space for longer term needs.

    Tradeoffs will be tough for all, but they will be toughest for low-income countries, which face both tight financial conditions and global growth slowdown and falling aid flows. To help ease the tradeoffs there, domestic resource mobilization must be part of the mix. We cannot have countries with a tax to GDP below 15 percent where it is difficult to sustain the functioning of the state. For central banks, the times when countries marched in lockstep is over. Different countries will face different conditions. Inflation pressures in some countries are easing. In others, pressures are yet to abate.

    What is our advice? Watch the data, watch inflation expectations. Central banks will need to strike a delicate balance between supporting growth and containing inflation. To do so, they must not only adjust policy interest rates but also rely on credibility to anchor expectations. Central bank independence is critical for credibility, protect it.

    Open economies, including many emerging markets, are exposed to the trade shocks and tighter financial conditions. They must preserve exchange rate flexibility as a shock absorber.

    In the event of unwarranted currency market volatility, these countries can find policy guidance in the IMF’s integrated policy framework.

    My third and final overarching priority, double down on growth oriented reforms to lift productivity. Even before the latest shock, we were living in a low growth, high debt world, sounding the alarm on weak medium-term growth for quite some time. You heard me saying that many times. Now is the time for long needed but often delayed reforms that can create a good business environment, put entrepreneurship in the front seat, reform labor markets, create conditions for innovation and in a world of rapid technological advancements, give countries a chance to catch the benefits of these advancements for their people.

    The IMF, of course, as always, will be there for our members. We are focusing on what we do best, helping them secure economic and financial stability, resolve or, even better, prevent balance of payments problems, and put in place strong policies and institutions to underpin vibrant economies.

    We will help countries with surveillance, with diagnostics, with policy advice and, when necessary, by providing financial support.

    As part of crisis resolution, we must ensure that the Global Financial Safety Net is strong. We will look for ways to further strengthen our collaboration with regional financing arrangements, and with [major] swap-providing central banks. When we have a cohesive, effective, and efficient Global Financial Safety Net, this will deliver confidence to our members in this more shock prone world.

    We will continue to foster cooperative policy solutions for promoting a healthy rebalancing of the world economy to help countries address debt vulnerabilities. Here, I want to acknowledge the important work of the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable. This week, we agreed to publish a playbook that provides guidance for predictable and faster debt restructuring processes. And I was very pleased to see [the] support of all traditional, nontraditional creditors, private sector, and debtor countries to have that predictability.

    Finally, we will reiterate the need for continued cooperation in a multipolar world. The shared objective for all must be a better balanced and more resilient world economy.

    Before I wrap it up, I want to recognize Secretary Bessent’s remarks yesterday in which he laid out the U.S. administration’s vision for the Bretton Woods Institutions. The United States is our largest shareholder. And even more, the United States is the home of my colleagues and me. So, of course, we greatly value the voice of the United States. I very much appreciate Secretary Bessent’s reiteration of the U.S.’s commitment to the Fund and its role. He raised a number of issues and priorities for the institution that I look forward to discussing with the U.S. authorities and the membership as a whole. We will have opportunities to do so here, and we will also have opportunities to continue with our Executive Board as we carry out important policy reviews–the Comprehensive Surveillance Review, it will set our surveillance priorities for the next five years, and the Review of Program Design and Conditionality, which will carefully consider how our lending can best help countries address the low growth challenge and durably resolve balance of payments weaknesses. So, we have a way to go, and we are laser focused on it.

    Are there cyclists in this room, people who bike, bikers? As bikers would pay, ‘pedalare,’ step on the pedal. With that, I am very happy to take your questions.

    Ms. Kozack: Thank you very much, Kristalina. We will now turn to your questions. I see you have hands up already. Very good. Please just give your name and outlet when called on. I am going to start right here, woman right in the front row here.

    Questioner: Thanks very much for the opportunity to ask you—to put a question to you. You mentioned Secretary Bessent’s remarks yesterday. He accused the IMF and the World Bank of mission creep and specifically the IMF on mission creep in areas such as climate change, gender policies and also social issues. Do you think there is a role in the future for the IMF in areas such as climate, gender, and social issues?       

    Ms. Georgieva: Thank you for your question. So, what do we do here? We concentrate on macroeconomic and financial stability for growth and employment. We have 191 members. They face different challenges. They face different types of risks to their balance of payment. And what we do is to analyze what these risks and what the Fund in our mandate and what we do on the fiscal side, on the monetary policy side, on the financial sector side, what can we do to help them be more resilient to shocks. So, when we have, for example, Caribbean countries that are wiped out by extreme weather events regularly, naturally they are very concerned about that, and they say how can we be more resilient to these shocks? Again, we focus on balance of payment. What are the risks and what can be done to protect the balance of payments in these countries.

    I want to say that I actually agree with the Secretary on one thing. It is a very complicated world, a world of massive challenges of all kinds. We are a small institution. We are 4,000 people. Not very well-known, but a very fiscally disciplined institution. Our budget today in real terms is what it was 20 years ago. So, yes, we have to focus. And that is exactly why we engage with the membership, so we can make best use of the staff of the Fund. I really like to run a tight ship. Yes.

    Ms. Kozack: I can attest to that. Let us go here, the gentleman in the third row, blue shirt.

    Questioner: Just to follow-up on Claire’s question. Does Secretary Bessent’s prescriptions here for the Fund, will it cause you to sort of rethink some of the lending programs like the RSF and the RST? And then secondly, a lot of economists in the private sector have sort of a more pessimistic view, especially when you look at sort of the prospects for U.S. recession. You are not predicting that. Some of the Ministers here that we have been interviewing feel that the Fund is being too conservative. Can you just sort of explain the differences between yourselves and the private sector?

    Ms. Georgieva: Thank you very much. Actually, in the paper that I just flagged to you, we have a slide that shows Fund lending. You need a magnifying glass to see the share of the Resilience and Sustainability Trust in this lending. It is really small, but as I was explaining in the answer to the previous question, for countries that are highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, having policy advice strictly on the macro side, there is a bit of confusion. People think that we have climate experts. We do not. That is not our job. Our job is to say, OK, if you are Dominica and a hurricane can wipe out the equivalent of 200 percent of your GDP, what are reasonable policies to put in place, or to be more specific, because we have a program with Barbados, if you are Barbados natural disasters are highly damaging to your economy, what are the policy measures you can put in place. In the case of Barbados, we came up with creating an additional buffer for them that would actually prevent a balance of payments shock from derailing the economic development of the country. So, of course, we are a membership institution. What our members decide, this is what we do. We periodically review all of our instruments. At this point, we have the function of the Fund on balance of payments support defined with a number of instruments being deployed.

    To your second question, I am going to do this illustration. My glass, when you look at it, it is more than 60 percent full. This is where we are. This is what it is. How can I call it empty? I cannot. When we look at the data, what we see is that for the United States, recession risks have increased now to 37 percent, but we are not yet—we do not see either in the labor market or indicators for the functioning of the economy such a dramatic block of economic activities that would drag growth in the United States all the way to below zero.

    So, as you remember, I mean, this is something that people may not appreciate enough. Our earlier projections for a very vibrant U.S. economy were for 2.7 percent growth for this year. We have downgraded the United States—actually this is the largest of our downgrades—by 0.9 percent, to 1.8 percent for this year. But we see enough that carries the United States forward. And, of course, we recognize that there is work underway to resolve trade disputes and reduce uncertainty. I want to reiterate my message. Uncertainty is really bad for business, so the sooner this cloud that is hanging over our heads is lifted, the better for prospects for growth.

    For the world economy, as you know we are—you saw it in the WEO, we are also projecting an increase in recession risk from 17 to 30 percent. But again—and by the way, there we talk about growth falling below 2 percent, not below zero, so there is a lot that is carrying the world economy—actually the real economy is functioning in a way that we are seeing no predominant risk. Is there risk? Yes. But it is in our, we used to say, downside scenario and not in what is our—the scenario we anchor our projections.

    This being said—and I am sorry I am dwelling on that. It is a very important question. I get it from delegations when we talk about our projections a lot. This being said, countries can—they are not passive observers. They can act. And one thing that is amazing in these meetings is how much that sense of urgency to act is penetrating our membership. And I do hope that Ministers will go back and say, OK, tough reform, I have postponed it, postpone no more.

    Ms. Kozack: We are going to this side of the room. I am going to go all the way to the end. There is a woman in the third row at the end in a brown suit.

    Questioner: My question is many emerging markets, particularly in Asia, are feeling the pinch of escalating trade tensions and global uncertainties. So, from the IMF’s perspective, how has China and ASEAN countries been affected so far and is there any policy recommendations in the near term that are available from the IMF to navigate these countries through this thank you.

    Ms. Georgieva: Thank you for your question. Indeed, Asia is a continent that is quite significantly impacted because economies that rely a lot on exports, when tariffs are announced, feel the pinch more. When we look at China, we have downgraded growth projections for China from 4.6 to 4 percent. We would have downgraded it much more—we actually would have had not .06 but 1.3 percent downgrade if it was not for the policy accommodation that China is already putting in place. It helps. And that is the first piece of advice. If you have policy space, now is a good time to use it. With regard to China, we are emphasizing four points. First, rebalance your economy towards domestic consumption more.

    Second, to help with this, bring to an end the turmoil in the property sector. And, of course, add social protection for people so they do not feel compelled to save rather than spend.

    Third, lift up services, a warm embrace from healthcare to education to basically the service sector, vis-à-vis the goods consumption. And four—and the fourth is very important. Get the government to pull back from too much intervention in the economy. Let the private sector function to its full capacity.

    We are currently working on a paper, and that is in consultation, collaboration with the Chinese authorities, to document in details what are the ways in which the government may be supporting businesses and by doing so shifting the competitive position of these businesses. And this will be one of our contributions to China.

    I am particularly concerned about ASEAN. Why? Because ASEAN, very open economies. They find themselves in a very tough spot with announced tariffs quite significant across the board in ASEAN countries.

    ASEAN has done really well to build resilience over the last years. Their growth has been quite sound. They have prudently brought inflation down. They have disciplined fiscal policy. It helps. This is our number one advice to ASEAN. You have some policy space in monetary policy, in fiscal policy. Carefully and prudently use it, of course, being mindful that if you deplete it entirely and there is another shock, that would be a problem.

    We have been working with ASEAN on their external sector, especially forex. We have integrated the policy framework. It allows good thinking around how to apply the exchange rate flexibility, how to look at this from the perspective of sudden exogenous shocks. I am very pleased to see that ASEAN is doing something that other regions are doing, strengthening economic cooperation, policy coordination, and intra-ASEAN trade. Currently the ASEAN countries trade only 21 percent among themselves. Well, they sure can go up.

    And I think that we will see not only in ASEAN, we will see it in other places, Gulf Cooperation Council, Central Asia, the African continent with the Continental Free Trade Agreement, more being done to compensate, if global trade is going down, then regional trade can be a compensator and actually inject growth energy.

    I want to finish by saying that ASEAN has been remarkably prudent over the last years to build resilience. And that puts them in a good position to have the reputation to deploy their policy space if needed.

    Ms. Kozack: OK. I am going to stay on this side of the room. I will go to the gentleman in the second row with the red tie.

    Questioner: You said these present tensions could disproportionately impact low-income countries, and I am glad you mentioned the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement because my question is on Africa. You met with the Nigerian delegation earlier this week. What is the strategy or your advice for the African continent? As you have noted in the past, Africa is not a country. It is a continent. Egypt cut rates for the first time in five years seven days ago. Prior to that, Ghana hiked its interest rate for the first time in almost three years. In these tough times, what is your advice for the continent?

    Ms. Georgieva: Well, we have seen over the last years the African continent having some of the fastest growing economies, but we also have seen low-income countries primarily, and among them fragile conflict affected countries, falling further behind. And now this is a shock for the continent. The direct impact of tariffs on most of Africa, not on all of Africa, but on most of Africa is relatively small, but the indirect impact is quite significant. Slowing global growth means that all other things equal, they will see a downgrade. And actually, we have downgraded growth prospects for the continent.

    For the oil producers like Nigeria, falling oil prices creates additional pressure on their budgets. On the other hand, for the oil importers, this is a breath of fresh air. In other words, as you indicated in your question, different countries face different challenges. If I were to come with some basic recommendations that apply to Africa, I would say—and actually they apply to Nigeria, they apply to Egypt, they apply to Ghana, they apply to Coté d’Ivoire. First, continue on a path of strengthening your fundamentals. There is still a lot that can be done on the fiscal side to have strength. As I was talking about ASEAN, to have buffers for a moment of shock. And do not use any excuses, oh, it is difficult, we cannot really go for more tax because, yes, you can. There is a lot that can be done to broaden the tax base and a lot that can be done to reduce tax evasion and tax avoidance.

    Using technology as some countries are doing to chase the tax dollar when there is the foundation for that is a very good thing to do.

    Second, on the monetary policy side, we know more as I said in the opening—we are no more in a place when you can look at the book of the Central Bank Governor of the neighboring country and say, oh, they are doing this, I will do the same, because you have to really assess domestic resource mobilization, what is your inflationary pressures and do the right thing for your country.

    But above all, make it so that the image of the whole continent changes because now everybody suffers from wrongdoing, from corruption or from conflict in one country. It throws a shadow on the rest of the continent.

    Finally, like with ASEAN, deepen interregional trade and cooperation. Remove the obstacles to it. Sometimes there are infrastructure obstacles. The World Bank is working on reducing that infrastructure obstacle to growth and trade.

    Africa has so much to offer the world. Obviously, they have the minerals, the natural disasters, and the young population. I think a more unified, more collaborative continent can go a long, long way to [becoming] an economic powerhouse.

    Ms. Kozack: I will go to this side of the room. I am going to have the woman in the red jacket, third row.

    Questioner: Ms. Georgieva, you have been very complementary of the economic reform that the Argentinian government is implementing. You have said that Argentina is an example of a country that has made great strides through structural reforms and fiscal discipline. I would like to ask you about the challenges that now the new program is facing right now, and above all what are the risks that Argentina can face in these times of global uncertainty? Thank you.

    Ms. Georgieva: Argentina has demonstrated that this time it is different. This time there is decisiveness to put the economy on a soundtrack from high deficit to surplus, from double-digit inflation to inflation that in February dipped under 3 percent, from poverty over 50 percent to now around 37 percent. Still very high but going down. The state is stepping out from where it does not belong to allow more dynamism in the private sector. Actually, if you are interested, today we will have the global debate, and Federico is going to be one of the speakers to talk about smart regulation, how you make the economy more vibrant by not being an obstacle to private initiative.

    We saw that when the program was announced, the immediate impact on markets was positive because, among other things, you ask about risks. One risk for Argentina would be if it is alone in this macroeconomic stabilization, now the country is not alone. We are there. The World Bank is there. The InterAmerican Bank is stepping up. What are the risks? And I am sorry, and there is a very important opportunity for Argentina in a world hungry for what Argentina produces, both in agriculture and in minerals, mining, gas, lithium. What are the risks?

    First, external. A worsening global environment of all other things equal, it would impact Argentina negatively. Domestic resource mobilization, the country is going to go to elections, as you know, in October. And it is very important that they do not derail the will for change. So far, we do not see that. We do not see that risk materializing, but I would urge Argentina, stay the course.

    Ms. Kozack: All right. Let us go right here in the front, end of the first row.

    Questioner: Managing Director, we had a lot of news this week, for example, mixed signals on tariffs on China, commentary on the position of the Fed Chair, and of course now the U.S. support of the IMF. How would you sum up the mood of the meetings of your members this week, please? 

    Ms. Georgieva: The membership is anxious because we were just about to step on a road to more stability after multiple shocks. We were projecting 3.3 percent growth. And actually, we were worried that this is not strong enough. And here we are, growth prospects weakened. The membership is also recognizing—and I hear it time and again—that it is very important to have a rules based global economy in which there is predictability of planning for action, both for governments and for the private sector. I actually hear a lot of support from the membership for the Fund because we have actually, the same way Argentina earned the Fund to support it, we have earned the support of the members by being there for them.

    Where the expectations are for the outcome of the meetings is to get more consistency in how all countries are going to go about pursuing their interests, which is legitimate. Of course, every country has to think about its own people but doing it so in a way that enlarges the global pie. It does not shrink it.

    Ms. Kozack: We have time for one last question. I am going to go over here.

    Ms. Georgieva: I am sorry. What I would say is the worry I hear more often is actually not even the tariffs. It is uncertainty. Let us have clarity. And that is why we are—with my apologies to the audience—so repetitive to say we need to bring uncertainty down.

    Ms. Kozack: We have time for one last question, the woman in the burgundy suit.

    Questioner:  I wanted to ask you about the MENA region. How concerned are you with all of this turmoil around the dollar and its effect on the MENA region, especially that many countries there are exporters of intermediate goods that go into major industries and many of them are exporters of energy and what is happening to the dollar is definitely of effect. And you have mentioned uncertainty many times today in this press conference. So, this uncertainty, how will it affect the countries in our region that are trying to get out of a lot of geopolitical uncertainty with the help of the IMF and special programs, such as Egypt? So, will this make the IMF revisit some of those programs amid all of this turmoil?

    Ms. Georgieva: Thank you very much. The MENA region actually got quite a downgrade. It is still doing better this year than last year, but we were projecting that growth would go to 4 percent and now we downgraded it to 2.6. A little bit like Africa, most of the impact is indirect. While countries in the MENA region, of course, trade with the United States, but most of them do not have very high exposure. And where it bites is slowing down of the global economy. And MENA has many oil exporters. The price of oil is going down.

    The dollar has historically, it goes up, it goes down. It is not a new thing. So, if you have an oil exporter and you get your revenues in dollars, when the dollar weakens, that creates a bit of a problem for your fiscal position. But if you are an oil exporter, this is a gift because then you can deal more easily with the challenges you face.

    My take for the MENA region is a very diverse region, like the African continent. You have the Gulf Cooperation Council. I have a lot of praise to offer because they have been pursuing reforms and diversification of the economies. Most countries have done really well. So now they see oil growth down, but non-oil economies are still doing quite well.

    We have the more kind of middle-income countries that are faced with difficulties impacted by regional conflicts like Jordan, like Egypt. And there we have been engaged, we have been providing support, as you know. We have countries like Morocco that have done really well to get their house in order, to have sound fiscal monetary policy and the only country in the region that is eligible for Flexible Credit Line from the IMF. And then we have countries like Sudan or Syria that are severely impacted by conflicts.

    I was very pleased that the attention of our membership, despite difficulties at home, across-the-board on low-income countries and conflict affected states, has sharpened. There is a recognition that what happens there impacts the rest of the world.

    We had a Syria meeting during the week of the meetings. The first time in more than 20 years, the Central Bank Governor and the Minister of Finance from Syria are here at the meetings. Our intention is to first and foremost help them rebuild institutions so they can plug themselves in the world economy.

    You are asking me whether we are revisiting program assumptions. Of course, we will be carefully watching what is happening. Then I had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Jordan. We are not talking about amending the program for Jordan right now, but we are talking about the importance of the Fund as an anchor of stability and how we can exercise this role.

    Ms. Kozack: Thank you very much, Managing Director, and thank you very much to all of our journalists who have joined us today. I am bringing this press conference to an end. As always, the transcript will be made available on our website, and I want to wish all of you a very wonderful rest of your day. Thank you very much.

    Ms. Georgieva: Thank you very much. Have a good rest of your day.

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Wafa Amr

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

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/04/24/tr-042425-managing-directors-press-briefing-on-gpa

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, universities and trade unions discussed the future of education workers at the State University of Management

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    On April 24, a joint meeting of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the All-Russian Trade Union of Education was held at the State University of Management with the participation of rectors of higher education institutions and members of the coordinating council of chairmen of primary trade union organizations of employees of higher education institutions.

    In his speech, Konstantin Mogilevsky noted the importance of building systematic work with participants and veterans of the special military operation, as well as members of their families who are employees of universities subordinate to the Ministry. The Deputy Head of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia emphasized that veterans arriving from the SVO zone should receive all the necessary support from their employers for a speedy return to civilian life.

    “I would like to emphasize that it is important for rectors to know such employees by name. I know that the universities of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions have already set up the corresponding records. If this work has not yet been done, I ask you to set the corresponding task to the heads of your personnel departments,” Konstantin Mogilevsky addressed the participants of the meeting.

    Rector of GUU Vladimir Stroev spoke about why the meeting is taking place at our university.

    “At one of the previous congresses, we agreed that such meetings should take place not only at external venues, but also in the educational institutions themselves, where our main activities take place. Today, many heads of educational organizations, trade unions, and ministry departments have gathered at the State University of Management, which provides an excellent opportunity to discuss problems, listen to criticism, and agree on many issues. I am confident that this work will not be in vain; many useful decisions will be made,” concluded Vladimir Stroyev.

    The Chairperson of the Trade Union of Public Education and Science Workers of the Russian Federation Larisa Solodilova emphasized the role of higher education in shaping the future of the country.

    “Our organization maintains a constant dialogue with ministries and the rector’s corps. And the experience of meetings with trade union members, where they discuss socio-economic issues, the legal framework, etc., is especially valuable. Our main resource is specialists, professionals, the most proactive of whom are often elected as chairmen of the trade unions of their institutions. In addition to their main educational, scientific, and upbringing work, they also manage to engage in this side of the activity. We must understand that the realization of youth is impossible without higher education. Together we are preparing a new generation of professionals for the future,” noted Larisa Solodilova.

    Larisa Aleksandrovna also announced the awarding of the Badge of Honor “For Social Partnership” to Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Andrey Omelchuk, Director of the Department of Personnel Policy of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Alexey Svistunov and Director of the Department of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Aslan Kanukoev. Honorary certificates were awarded to Director of the Department for Coordination of Activities of Educational Organizations of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Vitaly Grishkin, Deputy Director of the Department of Personnel Policy of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Nikolay Tsumerov and Head of the Department of the Department of Personnel Policy of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Tatyana Gazizova.

    Director of the Department of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Aslan Kanukoev, who received an MPA degree from the State University of Management, gave a report and noted the well-coordinated joint work with representatives of trade unions.

    “First of all, I would like to thank the management of the State University of Management for organizing the meeting. We have good constructive relations with the trade unions: we meet regularly and sum up the results of the year and discuss plans for the next one. And such a joint event is very important and useful, since here you can raise and resolve issues of interest directly,” noted Aslan Kanukoev.

    Director of the Department of Personnel Policy of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, graduate of the State University of Management Alexey Svistunov emphasized the uniqueness of the meeting.

    “The Ministry and the All-Russian Trade Union conceived of the joint event as a discussion platform for pressing issues, and I am sincerely glad that we have managed to do it on an even larger scale than planned. Today we will outline the main areas of interaction, and these are not only issues of labor relations, labor protection and teachers’ salaries, but also the importance of increasing the prestige of work in educational organizations, attracting young specialists. I hope that this format of communication will be useful and in demand,” said Alexey Svistunov.

    In total, about 200 people took part in the meeting.

    Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, heads of educational and trade union organizations from different parts of the country presented reports and discussed issues of fair labor relations, increasing the prestige of the profession in the field of higher education and directions for further joint work.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/24/2025

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: BIMAC 2025 discussed TIM as a generator of integration of technologies, data, organizations and specialists

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Elena Kolosova, Victoria Vinogradova and Alexander Ladygin

    The speakers of the BIMAC plenary session considered information modeling technologies (IMT) as a driving force for the integration of technologies, data, organizations and specialists. The moderators – General Director of Roseko-Stroyproekt Alexander Ladygin and Deputy Director of the Center for Digital Competences of SPbGASU Denis Nizhegorodtsev noted: this topic is in the center of attention of all industry participants and specialized educational institutions, since everyone understands that this integration is necessary.

    TIM as a pattern

    Advisor to the Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of Russia, Deputy General Director of Renga Software (part of the company “ASCON”) Maxim Nechiporenko recalled that the company, together with the market, studied and automated everyday tasks for a quarter of a century and assessed the prospects in the construction sector. Therefore, it was ready for digitalization.

    “From process automation, software creation to mechanisms that allowed integrating three-dimensional models, we approached the development of new products, so there was no doubt about the need for TIM. After the departure of foreign vendors, there were quite a lot of companies developing various software on the domestic market. We had a whole set of products with different functionality, implementation methods, so we began to study with partners how these products can interact with each other, how the customer will use them. But in practice, nuances still arise, and our task is to adapt them at customer enterprises taking into account their activities, planned deadlines for the implementation of production work, assigned resources, and existing competencies. We agree with developers on a more complex technological meaning and simpler interaction for users,” noted Maksim Nechiporenko.

    He added that there is a need to improve the system of design documentation for construction (SPDS). During the study, ASCON analysts found that its founder is the temporary instruction on the composition and design of construction working drawings of 1974. The expert believes that it would be good to return to it as a laconic and simple document that helped in work better than modern regulations.

    Operational data is the key to success on construction sites

    Elena Kolosova, Development Director of K4 LLC, noted that the entire construction process can be stopped due to documentation that is not prepared on time and is late for the construction site, or materials are not delivered on time. Due to such nuances, downtime occurs, and as a result, maintaining one worker at the construction site costs the company up to a million rubles per month. “TIM will be widely used when builders appreciate its advantages, efficiency, and want to implement it. While they are hesitating, designers are torn apart, processes are delayed, and the builders themselves do not receive value from the implementation. As a result, the situation is: the data has not reached the construction site, and the team is idle. How to avoid this? Provide the construction site with complete data. The designer can give the builder almost all the information. Therefore, the designer can either organize the construction or kill it. In order to prevent the latter, he must provide the construction in advance. With the highest organization of processes, this requires at least a quarter.

    Designing “on the fly” leads to failure. What prevents us from building a data system in which everyone will use the same information collected from different sources? We need to encode information so as not to re-enter data, rewriting it from documents sent in different formats, for example, PDF. As a result, documentation takes more time than production work. All these problems are solved by an information model, in which all participants in the construction process see the information in real time. Models do not operate with words, so the encoding system is important here,” said Elena Kolosova.

    Reference books, classification, identification

    Kira Besprozvannaya, Head of the BIM Department at ASCON-North-West LLC and a graduate of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, agreed that TIM is, first and foremost, information, and for it to bring value, the entire process needs to be automated: competencies, interaction with other information systems, libraries, and model export settings are important.

    “It is important to implement technologies not by obligation, but by choice. We begin our work with the customer by finding out what software products they work with, with whom and how they exchange data, we are interested in the scenario and goals of implementation, we study the standards of their activities. Then the technologies are adapted, and the implementation is effective. Then we provide training and support to the customer. This approach leads us to the creation of successful cases,” said Kira Besprozvannaya.

    Kirill Voytyuk, Development Director of Aibim LLC, confirmed that when implementing information systems, it is necessary to bring reference books to a common form, and the company is doing this successfully.

    “TIM should be implemented to solve specific problems. Today, there are planning tools, but the construction schedule printed on wallpaper still lives on. It’s strange. We work out the model with clients before construction, conduct scenario analysis, thus we conduct optimization, which, in turn, can be absolutely different, and its effectiveness is confirmed in practice. We have a product that allows you to check all collisions,” said Kirill Voytyuk.

    Technical expert of Tangle LLC Alla Zemlyanskaya reminded that data is a connecting component of processes, people, regulations, rules and technologies themselves. But here it is necessary to differentiate the concept of data and information.

    “Data is a set of facts, observations, numbers, presented in raw form. Information is processed structured data that is useful. To identify data, you need to designate its specific characteristics and purpose. Automation is needed to process it faster. We do this for specific requests for specific specialists, so that the data is a working tool. Throughout their life cycle, they must be handled correctly, so we are working on integration,” Alla Zemlyanskaya clarified.

    She cited real cases as examples that have proven their effectiveness in practice.

    Estimators advocate for innovation

    Maxim Gorinsky, President of the Association for the Development of Digital Solutions in Cost Engineering, Pricing and Information Modeling Technologies, Vice President of the Union of Cost Engineers for Regional Development, Director of Galaktika IT LLC, Editor-in-Chief of the Telegram channel “Just about Estimates,” clarified that today in our country there are three areas of the industry: the register of requirements, digitalization, and pricing. “The interest of experts and banks in this will help spur the transition to TIM, since we are talking about transparency and volumes. The more companies start working on TIM, the more feedback there will be and the faster these digital products will develop. Today, everyone wants to do it cheaply first, and then well and quickly. Meanwhile, process automation is an aid in decision making. If an estimator picks up standards with his eyes from morning to night or recalculates a project in a rush, then obviously there will be no increase in personnel. We need to try to transform the industry, including by changing processes innovatively, in order to attract young people who prefer to work where there are projects that are interesting to them,” noted Maxim Gorinsky.

    According to him, an Association for the Development of Information Modeling Technologies will be created, and a practical course with assignments for teachers will be launched, which can be used for teaching students.

    Interaction between industry and education

    Director of programs for developing interaction with educational and scientific organizations of Nanosoft Development LLC Oleg Egorychev emphasized that any software or toolkit during digitalization is impossible without specialists with the relevant competencies. Therefore, the interaction of educational organizations and vendors is the basis for the transition to the use of TIM.

    “Our company’s interaction with educational institutions is based on one main goal – to prepare and attract highly qualified personnel with modern competencies to the industry. For our part, we provide educational institutions with licenses for our products to conduct educational activities in any quantity, conduct training for faculty, help in developing educational programs for academic disciplines, integrate our products as tools and provide teaching aids for them. We provide all this free of charge. The integration and implementation of TIM in the first and second years of basic education is going well, but there is still a lot of work to do in this direction at graduating and specialized departments,” Oleg Egorychev noted.

    According to him, free online courses, advanced training, and student project competitions in which winning students and their mentors are awarded prizes are in demand.

    Maksym Nechyporenko confirmed that interaction with universities is a good example of combining efforts to promote TIM. Future and already working designers need to be given knowledge on how to use these tools, how to achieve maximum effect.

    “Summer schools are proving their effectiveness in this area. An important synergistic effect occurs when developers, users and educational institutions unite,” concluded Maksym Nechyporenko.

    Vice-Rector for Continuing Education at SPbGASU Victoria Vinogradova reported that given the digital transformation of the construction industry, it is important to develop digital competencies, including in TIM technologies and artificial intelligence, at all levels of education, so the university launched TIM classes in schools. The project is aimed at attracting motivated applicants who will subsequently grow into highly qualified specialists.

    “The educational organization is the contractor, it fulfills industry orders. In order to minimize the difference between the requirements of the labor market and educational programs, our university has created an Educational and Methodological Council, which also includes experts from the industry community. All our educational programs and projects are practice-oriented. TIM classes opened in schools have proven their demand: the growth of students has doubled. Next year, we plan to transform them into digital classes, since, in addition to TIM, we will include classes on artificial intelligence. We also plan to expand the geography through regional operators, which can be any organization. We will provide everything necessary. The educational process is based on two points: we impart knowledge and test it in practice. The school TIM championship, the digital GTO show the demand for all projects in this area, and the projects themselves are organized in close cooperation with industry companies,” noted Victoria Vinogradova.

    She also noted the demand for additional education programs implemented by the university.

    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.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/24/2025, 10:05 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A0JVZB6 (DeloPorts1) were changed.

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    04.24.2025

    10:05

    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 24.04.2025, 10-05 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 134.8) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1591.75 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 62.5%) of the RU000A0JVZB6 security (DeloPorts1) were changed.

    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.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.MO/N89757

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/24/2025, 10-10 (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 –

    04.24.2025

    10:10

    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 24.04.2025, 10-10 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 128.3) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1348.94 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 10.0%) of the security RU000A10A6B8 (RusGid2P02) were changed.

    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.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.MO/N89759

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/24/2025, 10-15 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A100ET6 (DOM 1P-6R) were changed.

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    04.24.2025

    10:15

    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 24.04.2025, 10-15 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 104.72) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1181.5 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 7.5%) of the RU000A100ET6 security (DOM 1P-6R) were changed.

    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.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.M.M.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/24/2025, 10:24 (Moscow time) the values of the lower boundary of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A1093G2 (IADOM 1P46) were changed.

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    04.24.2025

    10:24

    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 24.04.2025, 10-24 (Moscow time), the values of the lower limit of the price corridor (up to 86.93) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 648.5 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 23.75%) of the security RU000A1093G2 (IADOM 1P46) were changed.

    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.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.MO/N89764

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 04/24/2025, 12:10 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A0JWV89 (Akron B1P1) were changed.

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    04.24.2025

    12:10

    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 24.04.2025, 12-10 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 84.87) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 882.53 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 10.0%) of the security RU000A0JWV89 (Akron B1P1) were changed.

    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.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.MO/N89768

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: Marketplace Finuslugi begins calculating mutual fund yield indices

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    The Moscow Exchange’s Finuslugi money marketplace is starting to calculate mutual fund yield indices, allowing tracking and analyzing the dynamics of the Russian collective investment market’s yield. The indices show the average yield of open-end and exchange-traded mutual investment funds on the market that invest in securities, real estate, precious metals, and other assets.

    The calculation base for the market index of Finuslugi mutual funds for March 2025 included 297 open-end and exchange-traded funds, for the first quarter of 2025 – 324 mutual funds available for purchase from Russian brokers and management companies during the calculation period. The platform index of Finuslugi mutual funds is calculated based on the yield data of 17 open-end mutual investment funds available for investment on the marketplace.

    The average yield of the platform index of mutual funds for January 2025 was 3.84%, for February – 3.15%. In March, the yield of mutual funds showed a negative value (-2.56%), which was a consequence of the correction in the Russian securities market. According to the results of the first quarter of 2025, the average yield of the platform index of mutual funds was 3.1%, or approximately 13% per annum.

    The average yield of the mutual fund market index for January 2025 was 2.05%, for February – 2.55%. In March, the indicator showed a negative value (-2.78%). According to the results of the first quarter, the average yield of the market index showed a negative value (-0.3%).

    A third (34.6%) of open-end mutual funds and mutual funds available on the Russian market showed positive returns in March 2025. Of the 17 funds presented on the Finuslugi marketplace, six demonstrated positive returns at the end of the month and 13 at the end of the quarter.

    Igor Alutin, Senior Managing Director for Retail Business, Development of Electronic Platforms and the Finuslugi Project at Moscow Exchange:

    “Financial services strive to provide their clients with the most objective picture of not only savings and savings products available on the market, but also investment products. We hope that indices will become another benchmark for investors and will help in making informed decisions based on a high-quality comparison of instruments presented on the collective investment market.”

    Index data will be updated monthly and published on the websites of Finuslugi and the Moscow Exchange.

    Finuslugi is a marketplace for money created by the Moscow Exchange. Currently, shares of 17 open-end mutual investment funds (OUIF) are available for purchase on Finuslugi. When purchasing investment shares on Finuslugi, no commission is charged from the client for the transaction either by the marketplace or by the management companies. You can top up your accounts on Finuslugi using the Fast Payment System (FPS). The service can be used regardless of the region, anywhere in Russia and the world. More details on the websiteHTTPS: //finumlius.ru.

    Contact information for media 7 (495) 363-3232Pr@moex.kom

    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.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.M.M.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Chernyshenko: To achieve technological leadership, it is necessary to develop priority areas in personnel training

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting of the Commission on Scientific and Technological Development (S&TD).

    It was attended by Deputy Chairperson of the State Duma Victoria Abramchenko, Deputy Ministers of Science and Higher Education Denis Sekirinsky and Andrey Omelchuk, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady Krasnikov, Head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency Veronika Skvortsova, Governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai Mikhail Kotyukov, Head of Rospatent Yuri Zubov, representatives of other ministries and organizations, heads of regions and deputy heads of subjects responsible for scientific and technological development of industries and regions.

    The meeting discussed the main measures and instruments of state policy in the field of scientific and technological development, including the results of the implementation of the state program “Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation”, the indicators of which were fully met by the end of 2024.

    In particular, the Russian Federation ranks 8th in the world in terms of volume of scientific research and development, including through the creation of an effective system of higher education. The final assessment of the effectiveness of the implementation of all state programs will be carried out by the Ministry of Economic Development.

    The meeting also noted the successful completion of the national project “Science and Universities” in 2024, with all its indicators achieved. Over 5 years, it covered 76 regions, 991 universities, 1,584 research organizations, attracted 340 scientists and 4.17 million students. The implementation of the national project has become a key factor in achieving development goals and in determining new priorities, including technological leadership and increasing domestic research spending to 2% of GDP.

    Over the past 2 years, we have managed to overcome the negative trend in the reduction of the number of personnel employed in research and development. In 2024, 500 postgraduate students became winners of the presidential scholarship competition, the amount of which is 75 thousand rubles per month.

    More than 200 laboratories have been created under the leadership of young scientists, including 30 in new regions. In total, more than 940 laboratories are currently operating in Russia.

    An important area of state policy is the development of scientific infrastructure. Efforts are focused on the development of megascience class installations, such as the SKIF synchrotron, created using domestic equipment.

    Over the past 6 years, about 300 universities and research organizations have updated their equipment base, and about 30 thousand units of equipment have been purchased. This has allowed the technical base to be updated by more than 60%. An important step was the approval of the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. The development of the “Science” domain and the involvement of regions in scientific projects continues.

    Dmitry Chernyshenko also instructed that work on the formation of a single list of priority professions and specialties to ensure scientific and technological development be carried out as soon as possible.

    “President Vladimir Putin has set a national goal – technological leadership, which requires an influx of qualified personnel into strategically important industries. We need to determine priority areas of training, attract motivated students and stimulate them. Thus, it is planned to distribute at least 50% of budget places through government procurement, provide preferential educational loans for students who have chosen priority specialties,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

    At the end of the commission meeting, Dmitry Chernyshenko announced the creation of an interdepartmental working group (IWG) on issues of developing secondary vocational education (SVE). The decision to create the IWG was made earlier following the commission’s instructions and during government hour in the State Duma on the initiative of its Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin.

    The Deputy Prime Minister noted that when choosing the head of the International Working Group, the opinion of Vyacheslav Volodin was taken into account: the leadership of the group was entrusted to Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Victoria Abramchenko.

    “The key task of the IWG will be to build effective interaction with the regions and coordinate their efforts in the field of secondary vocational education. Particular attention will be paid to the analysis of the needs of each entity for personnel and resources for the secondary vocational education system, including production sites, plans of state corporations, the number of students, equipment of colleges and training of teachers,” emphasized Dmitry Chernyshenko.

    He added that the IWG will have to develop specific solutions to support secondary vocational education, including teacher retraining programs.

    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.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Patrushev met with the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates Mohammad Ahmad Al-Jaber

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Patrushev held a working meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Arab Emirates to Russia Mohammad Ahmad Al-Jaber.

    “The relations between our countries are developing dynamically. We sincerely appreciate the dialogue that has been built in many areas of cooperation. One of the key areas is the agro-industrial complex. Last year, the turnover of agricultural products between Russia and the United Arab Emirates increased by almost a third. We expect that this positive trend will continue this year,” said Dmitry Patrushev.

    The Deputy Prime Minister recalled that this year, domestic companies took part in the Galfood exhibition for the tenth time. Russia is ready to increase supplies of grain, halal meat, oil and fat, and confectionery products to the UAE.

    The meeting discussed the creation of a special working group to develop dialogue between the two countries in the field of ecology and environmental protection. Among other things, it will discuss issues of preserving biodiversity. The first meeting is planned to take place in May of this year. Dmitry Patrushev noted that Russia is also ready to exchange experience in the field of geology and subsoil use.

    “I am confident that mutually beneficial relations will continue to develop intensively. This, in turn, will contribute to strengthening trade and economic ties between our countries and enhancing food security between Russia and the United Arab Emirates,” Dmitry Patrushev stated.

    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.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Marat Khusnullin: About 26 thousand km of roads will be updated under the national project “Infrastructure for Life” in 2025

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    This year, the subjects participating in the national project “Infrastructure for Life” plan to build, reconstruct, repair, including major repairs, about 26 thousand km of roads. This was reported by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.

    “Last year, we successfully completed the implementation of the national project “Safe High-Quality Roads”, the new national project – “Infrastructure for Life” – became the successor to its best initiatives. In 2025, the road works program included 26 thousand km of the federal, regional and local road network of the country. As before, we will pay special attention to updating social routes to medical, educational, sports institutions. Another important aspect of the work is the phased renewal of sections of the backbone network of highways. All these efforts are aimed at improving the quality of life of the population and the socio-economic development of the regions and the country as a whole,” said Marat Khusnullin.

    Transport Minister Roman Starovoit emphasized that the national project “Infrastructure for Life” is one of the key instruments for achieving the national development goals of the country, defined by President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. “Russian road workers face ambitious challenges and tasks. In particular, in 2025, in order to achieve the national project indicators, it is planned to repair, reconstruct and build 21 thousand km of roads on the regional and local network under all road activity programs. For these purposes, the national project provides funding in the amount of 586.2 billion rubles, of which 339.2 billion are federal budget funds,” said Roman Starovoit.

    The national project “Infrastructure for Life” provides for large-scale measures, including the renovation of federal highways of Rosavtodor and roads under the trust management of the state company “Avtodor”.

    “In 2025, it is planned to repair, including major repairs, over 4.5 thousand km of federal highways on the network subordinate to Rosavtodor. Of these, about 200 km will be converted to four-lane design. In addition, it is planned to complete the construction and reconstruction of sections with a total length of 150.6 km. By the end of 2025, the share of federal highways in normal condition should be at least 72.9%,” said the head of the Federal Road Agency, Roman Novikov.

    In most of the subjects participating in the national project, road works have already begun. Thus, in the Republic of Dagestan, a 19-kilometer section of the Buynaksk-Kizilyurt highway is being repaired, which provides transport links between the settlements of the Buynaksk district and municipal districts located in the mountainous part with Makhachkala. In the Kizilyurt district of Dagestan, a section of the Kizilyurt-Kostek highway from the 0th to the 10th km is being repaired. This road plays a key role in providing communication between the settlements of the district and the cities of Kizilyurt, Makhachkala and Khasavyurt, and also provides access to the federal highway R-217 “Kavkaz”. In total, in the Republic of Dagestan, under the national project this year, work will be carried out at 24 sites of the regional and local road network with a total length of more than 141 km.

    In the Amur Region, a section of the Blagoveshchensk-Svobodny highway (from the 83rd to the 90th km) is being repaired. The highway is part of the country’s backbone network, connecting the regional center and the international airport of Blagoveshchensk with the Vostochny Cosmodrome and the city of Svobodny, where the largest gas chemical projects in Russia are currently being implemented. This year, road works under the national project “Infrastructure for Life” are planned in the region at 38 sites with a total length of almost 86 km.

    The Arkhangelsk Region is repairing the Arkhangelsk-Belogorsky-Pinega-Kimzha-Mezen highway. It is part of the backbone network and provides transport links between the settlements of the Primorsky, Kholmogorsky, Pinezhsky, Leshukonsky and Mezensky districts and the regional center. This year, repair work will be carried out on three sections with a total length of more than 50 km. In total, in 2025, thanks to the national project “Infrastructure for Life”, the Arkhangelsk Region plans to bring 169.65 km of the road network and 10 bridge structures up to standard.

    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.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Tatyana Golikova took part in the annual all-Russian scientific and practical conference “From the Year of the Family to the Century of the Family”

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    The All-Russian scientific and practical conference “From the Year of the Family to the Century of the Family” was held at the international information agency “Russia Today”. The conference was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Central Federal District Igor Shchegolev, Head of the Presidential Administration for Public Projects Sergei Novikov, Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit, State Secretary – Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Tsivileva, Chairperson of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture Liliya Gumerova. The conference was organized by the D.I. Mendeleev Institute of Demographic Policy.

    “Supporting families, preserving health, and preserving the population is the main national goal defined by the President of our country, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. To achieve it, we need a steady increase in the birth rate. The well-being of Russia depends on how many of us there are and at what rate we grow. The result of the Year of the Family was that the total fertility rate in 2024 was maintained at the 2023 level – 1.4. In 18 regions, an increase in the birth rate is recorded, including in those where this indicator had previously declined. In addition, last year, the growth in the birth of third and subsequent children was maintained – by 1.1%. Over the past two years, the number of large families and children in them has increased by 1.2 times,” said Tatyana Golikova.

    Last year, the Government approved the Strategy of Actions for the implementation of family and demographic policies, support for large families until 2036. On January 1, 2025, the national project “Family” was launched, including measures to support young, large families, the older generation, develop children’s healthcare, strengthen reproductive health, and promote family values.

    The Decree of the President of Russia “On social support for large families” established the permanent status of a large family and retained the right of regions to expand this category. In 40 regions, decisions have already been made to provide support measures for large families without taking into account the criteria of need.

    Since October 1, 2024, thanks to the created register of large families, the issuance of an electronic certificate has been launched without collecting additional documents. To date, more than 1.6 million electronic certificates have been issued.

    Since 2022, the title of “Mother Heroine” has been revived; in terms of the level of social guarantees, it is equal to the title of Hero of Labor.

    It is important to pay special attention to preserving the reproductive health of the population and working with women in a situation of reproductive choice. For this purpose, since 2024, the program of state guarantees has included medical examination of the adult population to assess reproductive health. A serious task for the regions is to increase the popularity of reproductive medical examination among residents.

    At the same time, work on preserving already conceived lives – reducing the number of abortions – is extremely important. A set of measures of legal, psychological, medical and social assistance to women in the situation of reproductive choice has been developed. Thanks to this, more than 41 thousand pregnancies were saved last year.

    The quality and availability of medical care in small towns and rural areas is improving. Within the framework of the national project “Family”, 336 additional women’s consultations will be created, 142 perinatal centers, maternity hospitals and 180 children’s hospitals will be modernized, children’s clinics will be equipped with 536 mobile medical complexes.

    Particular attention is paid to promoting family values, creating conditions for family leisure, creativity, sports, modernization of cultural centers, regional theaters, museums, libraries, and clubs.

    In addition, measures are being taken to successfully combine professional development with the birth and upbringing of children.

    Over the past two years, insurance guarantees for working women have been significantly expanded, including an increase in the maximum benefit amounts. In 2025, the amount of maternity benefits and monthly child care benefits increased by 1.4 times compared to 2024. The right to child care benefits for up to one and a half years in the event of early return to work of a parent has been retained.

    To develop corporate social and demographic policy, a corporate demographic standard was developed, which was adopted at the end of last year by the Russian Tripartite Commission for the Regulation of Social and Labor Relations and is now recommended for implementation in the practice of enterprises and organizations.

    Attention is paid to supporting student families. Universities are opening support centers for them, creating conditions for living together in dormitories, including for spouses from different universities, opening short-term stay groups for children and mother-and-child rooms, and developing the practice of transferring young mothers-students from paid education to a budget place.

    “For the birth of a child, it is important to have confidence in the future, in a job with a growing salary, in the prospective development of the city or town where the family lives – the creation of new jobs, a comfortable and safe environment, improvement of social infrastructure. Therefore, everything that is done in the regions should be family-oriented. Issues of construction of residential and social facilities, transport accessibility, ecology – each project implemented should be aimed at creating favorable conditions for families, so that there are more of us, Russians,” said Tatyana Golikova.

    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.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Andrey Rudskoy spoke at a meeting of the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    The Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg hosted a meeting of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Council. The event was opened by the Chairperson of the CIS IPA Council, Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko. Valentina Ivanovna noted the representative composition of the meeting and thanked the heads of delegations for their personal participation in the session.

    “This is all the more important since the central place in it is given to events connected with a date sacred to all of us – the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory,” the speaker of the Federation Council emphasized.

    During the meeting, the Chairman of the Expert Council on Science and Education at the IPA CIS, Rector of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrei Rudskoy presented information on the work of the council he heads.

    Andrey Ivanovich noted that the Expert Council carries out expert and scientific-analytical activities, evaluates and develops draft model laws and recommendations, and discusses issues of international cooperation in science, education and technology, innovation and regulatory integration. Andrey Rudskoy emphasized that the members of the Expert Council are actively involved in organizing the International School Olympiad and the international conference “Russian Language – the Basis of Integration Dialogue in the Commonwealth of Independent States”, and are working on preparing the International Scientific and Educational Congress of the CIS Member States. The heads of the delegations familiarized themselves with the full report on the activities of the Expert Council, presented in the meeting materials, during the report.

    Chairperson of the CIS IPA Council Valentina Matvienko thanked Andrey Rudskoy for the work he had done, noting his personal contribution to resolving issues of model lawmaking and interaction with the Commonwealth countries in the field of science and education.

    Photo: https: //iakis.ru/

    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 –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Tested on the ground: Scientists from the State University of Management conducted research as part of a major scientific project

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    From April 22 to 25, research fellows from the State University of Management Dmitry Rybakov, Ilya Shponarsky and Vladimir Kutkov, together with colleagues from the Omsk Agrarian Scientific Center (OANC), are conducting joint work to create a prototype of a digital service for coordinating modern agricultural production.

    As part of the implementation of a major scientific project, a working group on the territory of the scientific and production enterprise “Boyevoe” in the Omsk region conducted design studies to identify the needs for target modules of the developed platform and determine the parameters of integration with the information systems of the OANC.

    The major scientific project “Ensuring food security of the country based on the creation of software and hardware systems and intelligent platform digital solutions in the field of development of agro-industrial technologies of the full life cycle” is being implemented within the framework of a grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia for conducting major scientific projects in priority areas of scientific and technological development in 2024-2026.

    Let us recall that at the meeting of the consortium for the implementation of a major scientific project, areas of cooperation with project co-executors in the field of mechanical engineering technologies, reverse engineering, development and implementation of technological processes for applying wear-resistant coatings, as well as prospects for creating advanced digital services and new types of modern import-substituting products for the agricultural sector were identified.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/24/2025

    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 –