Mr Putin said that Russia was willing to co-operate with the EBRD in banking and other spheres.
He said that market reforms were underway in Russia, and a package of measures had been produced to streamline legislation and carry out restructuring, starting with natural monopolies.
Mr Lemierre said, in his turn, that the EBRD had adopted a new programme for the period up to 2005, which envisaged extra allocations to support the Russian economy. The co-operation project for 2001, approved by the bank, earmarked more than 700 million Euros for investment in Russia.