The International Monetary Fund has published another report on the economic situation in this country, and its conclusions are unprecedentedly harsh and impartial They cite the actual halt of structural reforms in the country, the impossibility of achieving a GDP growth without an accelerated inflation, the weakening of Russia`s budgetary policy, and capital flight from the country. MN`s Dmitry Dokuchayev asked Neven Mates, head of the IMF representative office in Russia, to comment on those conclusions. Summing up the results of 2005`s consultations, the IMF Board of Governors expressed concern that Russia`s major structural reforms had virtually come to a standstill. The Board strongly recommended the Russian authorities to take measures to improve the investment climate, encourage the establishment of new private companies, and diversify the economy. The IMF report states that government has a comprehensive program of specific structural reforms. Starting with 2002, however, the implementation of these reforms has been disappointing. Improving the business climate should become a first-priority task today; to carry it out, it is necessary to reform the civil service, the system of state administration, and the natural monopolies. The report traces the connection between the economic growth prospects and mounting inflation in this country. Could we see in the near future high GDP growth rates and low inflation? IMF experts put the potential growth rates of Russia`s GDP at five to six percent. This pace of growth should not generate an inflationary pressure. While Russia has no immediate need to reduce its inflation to the level of the developed industrial nations, it should observe the targeted rates of inflation in order to gradually reduce it. The Russian economy`s successes are largely ascribed to high oil prices on the world market. Does the IMF think that our country is making good use of this advantage? Should oil prices slump, what will happen to the Russian economy? International Monetary Fund