MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) – The Group of Seven leading industrial nations are planning to vote against the approval of new World Bank projects in Russia, Bloomberg reported Friday, quoting government sources with a knowledge of the situation.
The decision is to target a number of proposed projects of the bank in Russia with an overall budget of at least $1.5 billion. This measure was agreed on by deputy finance ministers from the G7 during a phone conference last week.
A former deputy assistant secretary for development finance and debt at the US Treasury, Scott Morris, told the agency that the G7 opposition would pose serious obstacles to the approval of the projects, as these countries have more than 40 percent of the vote share on the bank’s board.
“It will be very difficult for management to contemplate proceeding with anything that requires board approval,” Morris was quoted as saying.
Representatives of the World Bank declined to comment this information.
The G7 in a joint statement on Wednesday once again accused Russia of destabilizing the situation in Ukraine, even though Russia repeatedly denied any involvement in the conflict.
G7 leaders also said that they were ready to impose new sanctions against the country.
