The World Bank will place the loan into an escrow account in exchange for an up-front commission by the Kazakh authorities. Funds would only be released as necessary for reimbursement of companies. The programme is a response to consultations with foreign and local businesses operating in Kazakhstan. Businesses have important concerns about the absence of laws, the arbitrary way in which they are applied and discriminatory actions by the authorities when investments have been made. The scheme can help the government to limit corruption and administrative failures.
Similar schemes are under way in Ukraine, Albania and Bosnia.
Angola repays to Russia Angola and Russia are working on an agreement for the repayment of the outstanding Soviet-era military debt of some USD 4bn. Angola will use diamonds and oil to repay Russia and Russia will continue working in Angola, developing new diamond deposits and reconstructing a power station for the mines. Presently Angolan rough diamonds represent an annual volume of USD 1bn. IMF aid for Argentina Argentina's problems to meet its obligations on its USD 123.5bn foreign debt has scared off investors. That forced Argentina to turn to the IMF for help in meeting USD 15bn in foreign debt payments in 2001 and in financing a USD 6.5bn budget deficit.