Russia to write off 700 million-dollar debt: Kudrin

Moscow, June 9 (UNI) Russia will write off 700 million dollars debt on poor countries ahead of the G-8 summit, Finance Minster Alexei Kudrin said today.

''The resources that will be released in these countries could be used for important development programmes,'' Interfax news agency quoted Kudrin as saying at a press conference in St Petersburg.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said programmes will be implemented to fight infectious diseases after the debt of these countries is written off as well as projects to develop energy infrastructure worth 250 million dollars.

Wolfowitz pointed out that one million people die from malaria every year in Africa and said Russia and the World Bank were planning to expand cooperation in the fight against infectious diseases in Central Asia.

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