MOSCOW. April 1 (Interfax) - Russia's financial contribution to international development efforts should become less anonymous and "more targeted", Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Our country has traditionally been engaged in these processes, but in the past decade our assistance has been extended anonymously through different structures, international programs of the G8, the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In our opinion, this is not totally right," Lavrov said at a meeting of the Russian Foreign Ministry's business council on Tuesday.
Lavrov said he believes that each recipient country ought to know its donors.
The minister also said that certain concepts had already been formulated within Russia's policy as part of international development support "in order to make sure that our contribution to assistance intended for less developed states would be more visible and would be perceived as Russia's actual steps to help tackle problems facing our partners."
"First and foremost, we will pay attention in this context to our neighbors in the Commonwealth of Independence States," Lavrov said.
The topic of international development support is growing more relevant, and it is necessary to make the most of this instrument because support for international development frequently becomes a kind of "soft power", which may be used by a certain country to pursue its interests, he said.