The finance ministers are in Moscow for a meeting between the heads of the financial departments of the G8 member states. The meeting is taking place within the framework of Russia's G8 presidency that began in 2006.
British Finance Minister Gordon Brown, German Federal Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck, Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti, Canadian Finance Minister James Flaherty, American Secretary of Finance John Snow, French Finance Minister Thierry Breton, and Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki took part in the meetings in Moscow.
Austrian Federal Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, and head of the delegation of the European Commission Jose Joaquin Almunia were also at a meeting in the Kremlin.
Presidential Aide Igor Shuvalov and Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin took part from the Russian side.
The President of Russia opened the meeting. The dialogue then proceeded informally over lunch.
Earlier on at the National Hotel in Moscow the first round of meetings between G8 finance ministers took place. The meetings' purpose was to prepare the G8 summit in St Petersburg and discuss issues linked to the world economy such as energy markets and further steps on the agenda for the development and economic aspects of the struggle with infectious diseases on a global scale. Following the summit the ministers adopted a joint declaration.