Andrei Kasyanenko, head of the international cooperation section at the Russian Finance Ministry's department of international financial relations, state debt and state financial assets, said Russia's accession to the ADB meant the country's closer integration with the world economy.
"Russian companies are not yet actively integrated in the world economic space. From the viewpoint of prospects for the development of the Russian economy, Russia's accession to the ADB means further integration with the world economy, in particular, through access to regional markets in Asia," Kasyanenko said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
The ADB was established in 1966 as a regional interstate bank to finance long-term development projects in Asia and the Pacific. Its members are 65 countries. The ADB's annual volume of lending is about $6-7 billion.
Kasyanenko said Russia's stake in the ADB would facilitate Russian companies' participation in projects being implemented in the countries that were the recipients of its funds.
Kasyanenko said the ADB was financing long-term projects in the sphere of urban development, energy, transport and communications, and also in the area of raising the efficiency of state governance.
"All these areas are potentially of interest for Russian companies," Kasyanenko said.
