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Russia Speaks Out Against Creation of New World Bank Fund for Ukraine - Source

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russia has opposed the new World Bank fund for Ukraine, but Moscow's share of votes in the organization does not allow it to block such decisions, a source in the Russian representative office of the World Bank told Sputnik.
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"We have stated our disagreement with the proposed mechanism. However, Russia's share of votes does not allow it to block such decisions, since all other shareholders have expressed their support for it," the source said.
However, the World Bank's management has provided assurances that money for the new fund will come exclusively from the budgets of donor countries, the source noted.
"The new fund will not interact with Russian assets or income from them blocked in the West," he added.
In addition, the World Bank will not allow Kiev to use the new financial aid fund without control.
"Although decisions on the use of funds are made by the fund's management committee, which will include both donors and representatives of the Ukrainian government, uncontrolled use of the fund’s resources is impossible," the source said.
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Those controls include a ban on using the fund to buy military equipment, the source added.
"The proposal of the bank's management discussed today contains a direct ban on the use of the fund's resources for military purposes," the source said.
The initiators of the new fund are Canada, Japan and the United States, the source said, adding that those countries intend to contribute at least $10 billion.
"The founders and initial donors of the fund were Canada, Japan and the United States, which declared their intention to transfer at least $10 billion to the fund," the source said.
The United Kingdom has also declared its readiness to support the fund, but London representatives did not specify the amount of funds they are ready to allocate, the source added.
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