Joint letter offers Western help on Russia reforms
Friday August 28, 9:02 am Eastern Time
BONN, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The finance ministers of Europe's
four biggest economies on Friday offered their close
cooperation in dealing with Moscow's currency and debt crisis
in a letter to acting Russian Prime Minister Viktor
Chernomyrdin.
The letter from Europe's members of the Group of Seven -- Germany, France, Britain and Italy
-- said full implementation of reforms agreed with the IMF offered the best way for Russia to
return to growth and stability, the Bonn Finance Ministry said.
''This is the only way to restore the confidence of international financial markets,'' the Finance
Ministry said in a statement on the letter.
The joint letter -- signed by German Finance Minister Theo Waigel, France's Dominique
Strauss-Kahn, Britain's Gordon Brown and Italy's Carlo Azeglio Ciampi -- follows
conversations in the wake of Chernomyrdin's appointment last weekend.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin turned to his old ally Chernomyrdin after making former premier
Sergei Kiriyenko the scapegoat for a debt moratorium and the abandonment of efforts to
maintain a stable rouble.
''The finance ministers agree it is vital to strengthen the foundations of public finances with a fair
tax system and to adopt measures to restore the stability of the financial system,'' the statement
continued. ''It is also decisive that the Russian central bank is able to pursue an independent,
stability-oriented monetary policy.''
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