Russia supports Marchenko as candidate to head IMF

According to the Finance Minister of the Russian Federation Aleksei Kudrin, official Moscow supports the candidacy of the Chairman of Kazakhstan National Bank Gregory Marchenko to lead IMF, but will consult BRIC countries before the final decision on the candidate is taken, Interfax-Kazakhstan reports. "I appreciate him very much. He is a world level expert. But all the IMF countries will have to agree on one person at the end of the election process. I think participation of Marchenko is a quite positive development for a start,” Kudrin said. CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries have already started international negotiations to support Marchenko as a candidate for the IMF leadership. “After this decision we have started negotiations with several countries, including BRIC countries, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, several other countries to support one candidate from the developing countires,” Kazakhstan Prime-Minister Karim Massimov said. The International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned after being accused of sexually assaulting a maid in New York hotel. Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov suggested Gregory Marchenko as a candidate to head the IMF at the Summit of the CIS (Commonwealth of independent States) Heads of Government in Minsk. The Council supported his candidacy.