THE FUTURE WILL SHOW…

The group photo of participants in the G20 summit in London did not come out. First, it was Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who failed everyone. It was rumoured that he had gone to the toilet "at the most responsible moment". Harper's counterparts had to pose without him - according to the official version, the Canadian premier had gone to consult officials from his delegation. Later, Harper's press secretary even issued a special statement, stressing that his boss had not come to the summit to pose for photographs. However, Harper did turn up for the group photo of G20 leaders, but this time Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono were missing. They had gone somewhere on their own business. The leaders of the world's largest economies decided not to test the photographers' patience again, and no full picture was taken for history.

In any case, if we ignore the fact that the world leaders failed to coordinate their actions, everything else was much more successful at the summit. Despite pessimistic expectations, the forum ended with the adoption of specific decisions. Some even called these decisions the end of the post-war era of Anglo-Saxon capitalism the main idea of which was greater market freedom and the "establishment of a new world order".

G20 includes the European Union, the USA, Canada, China, Japan, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Britain, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, India, Indone-sia, Turkey, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. These countries comprise two thirds of the world's population, 80 per cent of world trade and 90 per cent of the world's gross domestic product, which is why their opinion is quite important. This time the meeting was also attended by UN Secretary-General Pan Ki-moon, European Commis-sion President Jose Manuel Barroso and representatives of the IMF, the World Bank, ASEAN and other international institutions.

"We reached a new consensus and developed a plan to restore the growth in the world economy, managed to lay the foundations of a new system in order to prevent similar crises in the future. We agreed that it is necessary to fight the crisis and every country should take necessary measures," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, stressing that "there was no split" at the summit. It must be noted here that a split was actually expected. World news agencies reported during the main meeting of the summit that the G20 leaders had major disagreements over the text of the final resolution. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was especially categorical, saying that the decision to start reforms in the world financial system "was not liable to debate". "If we fail to make progress in London, the chair I am sitting on will be empty. I will stand up and leave," the French president threatened. However, later he was pleased with the results of the London meeting, saying that the G20 meeting "surpassed all expectations".

In turn, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the agreement reached in London was "a very good and almost historical compromise", while the measures agreed upon at the forum will present the world with "clear financial architecture".

"Some 20-25 years ago, it was impossible to imagine a situation where such different states with such different economies, mentality and historical traditions sat at one table and managed to agree in a difficult situation what they should do and so quickly. The speed at which we are acting makes me think, at least, that many of the decisions we are taking will be quite effective," Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev said. However, he added that "the process of overcoming the financial crisis is likely to be lengthier than we want".

US President Barack Obama also said that the decisions of the London summit look timely and courageous and may be a "turning point in our aspirations to a global economic recovery". So, the summit decided to spend five trillion dollars on the stabilization of the world financial system by the end of 2010. It is expected that this money will secure a 4-per-cent growth in production and will make production eco-friendly and energy-efficient. The International Monetary Fund and other international financial institutions will get 1.1 trillion dollars, of which 750 billion dollars will be allocated to the IMF to help poor countries, resume crediting, create jobs and take other measures. Developing countries will also get a great number of votes in the IMF, which will make it possible to increase their influence in this organization. Some 250 billion dollars will be spent on support for the trade-financial sphere.

The summit did not discuss introducing new international reserve currency, but Gordon Brown pointed out that this issue could be "studied in detail" and raised next time. Another important anti-crisis measure is the toughening of control over the financial markets and instruments. "We will take action to build a more globally coherent, more supra-national and better regulated system of regulators for the future financial sector which will support the global growth and serve the needs of business and citizens. The G20 leaders decided to strengthen regulation and observation for all systemically important financial institutions, instruments and markets. For the first time, this will include a component such as hedging funds," the host of the summit, Gordon Brown, said.

It was decided that managers of companies and banks which have asked for state assistance should give up large bonuses. The G20 leaders also decided that it is about time to close "tax oases" - offshore zones. As a consequence, a "black" and "grey" list of countries and territories with a privileged taxation regime was made.

The "black" list includes Costa Rica, Malaysia, the Philippines and Uruguay. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) included another 38 states, including Lichtenstein, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Gibraltar, Andorra and San Marino on the "grey" list - the countries which have adopted international standards, but have not brought their legislation in line with them. It was noted that after the publication of the list, the countries and territories included on it should take relevant obligations to introduce transparency in their financial and banking sectors in order to avoid further action by the international community. "We are ready to impose sanctions to protect our public funds and financial system. The time of the banking secret is a thing of the past," the summit said in its final communiqu?.

As a result, it was reported that the Philippine authorities were already taking steps to ensure that their country is taken off the list. Costa Rica promised to do the same by the end of the year. The OECD has already removed Uruguay from the list as the country's authorities promised to follow "norms of transparency and information exchange in the sphere of taxation". At the same time, Switzerland expressed indignation that it was included on the "grey" list. Meanwhile, the USA accused the Swiss bank UBS of helping its American clients to launder money. Experts are guessing why the "grey" list did not include Barbados, Cyprus and the UAE, as well as other countries which could be called "tax paradises".

The G20 leaders (as part of regulation and observation over financial institutions) decided to set up a council of financial stability which, in cooperation with the IMF, should "issue early warnings about macroeconomic and financial risks and actions required for meeting them fully armed". The English abbreviation for the council is FSB, which caused lots of jokes among the members of the Russian delegation at the forum.

Stock exchanges around the world positively reacted to the decisions of the London summit. The price of oil also rose, though it is clearly too early to make any optimistic predictions. It is not that there is no end to the crisis - many experts believe that it has not reached its apogee yet.

Among the political results of the London forum, we can highlight the clear success of the EU which managed to demonstrate a common position and independence in international affairs. As for the USA, observers do not have a high opinion about it. The Independent writes that "the star of President Obama did not turn into a diplomatic weight". "It is possible that this is related to the 'listener's' position he has chosen, which is in such contrast with the confident manner of his predecessor. Possibly, this also marks the beginning of some new times. Voluntarily or out of necessity, the USA is now seeing its position in the world with a lesser sense of its own exceptionality and with a greater aspiration to consensus," the newspaper thinks.

The London summit can also be called a kind of crisis agreement between the leading economies. Despite their differences - different political systems, geopolitical aspirations and economic possibilities, everyone wants to overcome the crisis. The understanding of the fact that this can be done with joint efforts is probably the main achievement of the G20 summit. As long as world leaders are capable not just of engaging in dialogue, but also drawing a common conclusion, we can look to the future with some optimism. In any case, the future will show…