"The negotiations are completed, and only the details are left to be worked out", he said. "We will soon be presenting the proposal to our board for formal approval, and we expect an answer by the end of the year".
Molineus said that the money would be used as needed to create a nationwide computer network capable of assessing the scope of the problem and processing claims as they arise.
"In order to offer unemployment services, you need information, you need to establish criteria as to who is qualified to receive aid", he said.
He said that work during the first six months of the program would focus on a handful of pilot projects whose performance will be judged to determine the pattern for a broader network.
In addition to financing the network, Molineus said that the World Bank would be involved in training personnel and supervising the distribution of funds.
"We don't yet know how serious the unemployment problem will be, but we have to be ready", he said. "It will probably get worse".
Fyodor Prokopov, head of the Russian Federal Employment Service, which received the grant, also said that his organization was being prepared to handle the dramatic increase in unemployment expected by the middle of next year, Itar-Tass reported.
The International Labor Organization recently said that unemployment is set to reach crisis proportions as enterprises begin to accept the discipline of the marketplace and begin to reduce payroll. While the number of expected jobless is difficult to predict, the ILO said that more than 40 percent of Russian enterprises will have dismissed some of their workers by the middle of next year.
Prokopov said that his agency planned to train personnel at the federal, regional and local levels to handle the anticipated caseload, and would develop a monitoring and assessment system to evaluate the agency's progress.
He also called for an increase in funds for unemployment benefits, and reiterated plans to establish urban and rural employment centers equipped with information systems capable of processing the rising number of applications.
In addition to the agreement with the World Bank, Prokopov said that the Russian Federal Employment Service had concluded financing agreements with several other international organizations.
The Swedish national unemployment agency, for example, will offer consultation services on vocational training for unemployed workers, while the German federal labor agency is implementing "labor market" centers in Russia as a way of matching workers with jobs.
Prokopov also said that the Ford foundation had contributed $65, 000 to publish books on the problems of the Russian labor market, and that plans had been drawn up to operate several employment centers and perform public works in conjunction with French organizations.
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