
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 3, 1993                   TAG: 9305030065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: TOKYO                                LENGTH: Short

JAPAN TO CONTRIBUTE TO FUND FOR RUSSIAN AID

Japan's government has decided to contribute to a U.S.-proposed $4 billion fund to help privatize large-scale state-run enterprises in Russia, Sankei Shimbun reported.

The newspaper on Sunday cited unidentified government sources as saying Japan would propose reducing the size of the fund and soliciting the participation of European countries outside the Group of Seven industrial democracies in return for its support.

The newspaper did not say how much Japan is ready to commit to the fund, but it said officials will raise the topic as the centerpiece of discussions on aid to Russia at the G7 Economic Summit here in July.

The United States has proposed that Japan and the United States each contribute $500 million and that European G7 members - Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain - contribute a total of $1 billion. The remaining $2 billion would come from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the newspaper said.

- Knight-Ridder/Tribune

by CNB