Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with World Bank President James Wolfensohn in Moscow on Tuesday

"Despite a substantial improvement in its position, Russia still needs the Bank's help but the nature of that help is changing as the next stage of our reforms gets under way," a diplomatic source said, commenting on the talks. During its existence the World Bank has made about 50 loans to Russia to a total value of 10bn dollars. President Vladimir Putin has decorated World Bank President James Wolfensohn with the Order of Friendship "for a weighty contribution to strengthening international cooperation." At a ceremony, Putin noted that Russia has been a Bank shareholder since 1992. "Since then, the standard of our relations has changed fundamentally, and this happened due to the growth of the Russian economy, the change in its quality," he said. Putin said this was partly achieved thanks to cooperation with the World Bank. He said the World Bank has approved 53 lending projects for Russia totaling $13.4 billion. "So far we have used up only $8.4 billion, and we have sufficient financial resources at our disposal. But it is a question for an expert evaluation of the government whether the funds are necessary or not, and on what scale," Putin said.