OREANDA-NEWS. February 16, 2012. Head of Karelia Andrei Nelidov has held a meeting with representatives of the World Bank and WYG International, a global management and technical consulting company, who arrived in Karelia to consider possibilities of the republic's participation in the program for development of single-industry towns.

Alexander Prilepin, Director for Social and Economic Projects of WYG International, and Andrei Nikolayev, representative of the World Bank, on the invitation of the Head of Karelia Andrei Nelidov have come to the republic and visited Suojarvi as one of its single-industry towns. On results of the trip matters at the meeting in the Government of the republic concerned inclusion of municipalities in the program for development of single-industry towns implemented by the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia and theWorld Bank.

The World Bank is a noncommercial organization and its goal is not to gain profits, but to support development of the countries and regions. Currently, the bank is cooperating with various regions of Russia, in particular, within a new program for development of single-industry towns where life, as a matter of fact, depends on the town's core enterprise.

As Alexander Prilepin and Andrei Nikolaev have told, the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia has rated high the activity of the Government of Karelia and recommended to include Suojarvi in the list of six single-industry towns of Russia to which the World bank will render its expert support. According to Andrei Nikolaev, for this purpose the Bank has wide range of financial tools, as well as an opportunity to choose for Karelian municipalities corresponding foreign partner towns where similar problems were resolved successfully. The experts have mentioned that they have gained a positive impression of their trip across Karelia, there are all the necessary preconditions and opportunities for cooperation of the World Bank with the republic.

In the opinion of Andrei Nelidov, Suojarvi, Pudozh, and Segezha are exactly the towns of Karelia that may be included in the program of the World Bank. Head of Karelia has commissioned Yuri Kancher, Valentin Luntsevich and Igor Usynin with continuation of the teamwork with representatives of the bank.