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Russia does not consider AIIB alternative to the EBRD — deputy finance minister

Russia's Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak said the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a new institution which has its own niche

Sergey Storchak ITAR-TASS/Sergey Karpov

Sergey Storchak

© ITAR-TASS/Sergey Karpov

TBILISI, May 14. /TASS/. Russia does not consider the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) an alternative to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak told TASS Thursday.

"We are not considering any alternatives. It is a new institution, it has its own niche. Just one more opportunity to raise capital," he said.

Storchak said that a new round of negotiations on the creation of AIIB will take place on May 20-22. "We are working on a document that will define the conditions of the institution’s activities. There won’t be anything revolutionary. Just the best practices from the work of existing development banks," Storchak said.

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According to him, the currency composition of AIIB operations will depend on the specific projects. "Nobody will take on additional currency risks. Everything will depend on the project, from the industry orientation of the country where the project is carried out," he said.

Storchak said that the AIIB will be able to borrow in the currencies of the participating countries if these countries will allow the bank to do it.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is an international financial institution established to promote financial cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, the implementation of infrastructure projects and the expansion of integration processes. The initiative to establish the AIIB came from China. The first memorandum on this project was signed in October 2014 in Beijing. The charter capital of the future financial institution will be $100 bln. The initial share capital is $50 bln. The bank’s headquarters will be located in Beijing.

Currently, the number of founding members reached 50. The majority is from the Asia-Pacific region (China, South Korea, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand and others). The Middle East is also involved in the project (Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and others), as well as European countries (Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Norway, France, Finland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark), Latin American countries (Brazil), and Russia. Several countries’s applications are still being reviewed.

Russia's participation in the Bank was announced on March 28, 2015 during the Asian Forum in Boao (Hainan Province, China). Russia received the status of the founding member of the Bank on April 14.

The bank is expected to begin working at the end of this year.

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European Bank for Reconstruction and Development European Investment Bank

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