EU crisis: Russia pledges at least $10 billion to save euro

BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Economic Times): Russia, hoping to keep its largest export market from collapsing, will give at least $10 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help support the struggling euro currency, an aide to President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday. Russian officials have said in the past that the country would offer up to $10 billion. But Arkady Dvorkovich, a Medvedev economic adviser, indicated the total may be greater because Russia has a big economic stake in the European Union, where a debt crisis is dragging down economies and the 17-nation eurozone. ``We are ready to contribute our part via the IMF. We are committed to do it. Ten billion dollars is the minimum commitment,'' Dvorkovich told journalists reporting from the 28th EU-Russia summit in Brussels, where other major issues included visa liberalization and the contentious Russian election. Russia exports more to the EU than to any other market, and Russia is the EU's third-largest trading partner. Total trade amounts to (euro) 245 billion ($318 billion). Russia also is the EU's most important source of energy imports, accounting for nearly a quarter of its natural gas consumption and 30 per cent of its oil. In opening remarks, Medvedev said "it is no secret" that the EU is Russia's major economic partner and that Moscow is worried about the euro's troubles.