WASHINGTON, April 22. /TASS/. Russia and the United States will not participate in the increase of the World Bank’s capital, at the same time, the U.S. will retain a blocking stake in that institution, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told reporters on the sidelines of the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).
On Saturday, April 21, the World Bank Group’s shareholders backed the decision to increase paid-in capital by $13 bln. This amount consists of $7.5 billion paid-in capital for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and $5.5 billion paid-in capital for the International Financial Corporation (IFC).
According to the WB’s statement, the measure "allows for greater responsiveness to risks to global stability and security, particularly in poorer countries and fragile states."
"We (Russia - TASS) proceed from the fact that we will not participate. Firstly, we are not happy with the fact that the IDA (part of the WB group - TASS) is maintained from the profit the bank receives, and the bank's profit is obtained at the expense of the most needy shareholders-borrowers."
"Also we all know the story of prohibition of the World Bank activities in Russia. In this situation how can we take part in the increase of the capital," he added.
The US won’t participate in the World Bank’s capital increase either but will retain the blocking stake, the Russian minister said.
"The plan is that everyone pays but Americans do not contribute a single cent to the IFC (part of the WB group - TASS.), But they also made a condition that they will keep the blocking stake, which is now 20%. If they do not pay as part of the capital increase, the share is diluted, therefore, in order to preserve their blocking stake, it is planned to amend the articles of the agreement, so the blocking stake will be reduced from 20% to 15%, which will allow the Americans to continue to gain the upper hand," he said.