Finance ministers of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent countries will discuss the consequences of the Cypriot crisis on the financial system of the member states at the June meeting in Minsk, Chairman of CIS Executive Committee Sergei Lebedev told journalists in the capital of Belarus on Thursday, RIA Novosti reported.
"Recent events in Cyprus and the banking crisis are also affecting CIS member states. It is not a secret that part of the assets owned by individuals and legal entities in CIS countries are kept in Cypriot banks and of course, it is important for us as to how the crisis will be resolved," Lebedev said.
He expressed his hope that the discussions will result in "joint steps to minimise the consequences of the events on Cyprus for financial systems of member states of the Commonwealth."
Lebedev noted that during recent years, the CIS has gained some experience of working in crisis situations.
"The countries were prompted by the financial crisis of 2008," he said referring back to when a permanent conference of finance ministers was created at that time in order to reduce the negative impact of the crisis on the countries of the CIS.
"We quite successfully overcame the crisis and now positive trends are observed in the economy of CIS countries," he said.
Cyprus is in a state of severe financial crisis. The government has abandoned its original plans to impose "taxes" on all bank deposits, causing a panic among depositors. On Monday, the Cypriot authorities reached a new agreement with the group of creditors (the EU, ECB and IMF). Now Cyprus undertakes to reorganise its banking system in exchange for a €10-billion package of credit support from the EU and IMF.