Summit spending dubious, Accord Invest claims

24 June 2009 (16:26)

‘The outcomes of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Yekaterinburg look rather dubious, to say the least. On the one hand, all the planned events did take place smoothly. On the other hand, knowing that the state and the local businesses have spent a total of about 60 billion RUR in preparation, one cannot help feeling that this is too much. Then, the summit was actually targeted at attracting investors but resulted in just one agreement: the China State Bank is going to offer us $1bn loan (instead of the earlier declared ?1bn, which would mean 33% more money). The loan is to be given to VEB (Foreign Trade Bank), which, it its turn, will have to decide how to apply the money within Sverdlovsk Region. So, whether outlaying $2bn to get ready for the summit and to be offered $1bn worth of loans in the end is an effective spending policy remains to be seen,’ Accord Invest Investment Company’s Deputy Director Konstantin Selyanin said to an UrBC reporter.


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