Sergei Dubinin (in Russian): "These allegations are groundless and simply irresponsible"

In an interview for Russia's Ekho Moskvy Radio, Sergei Dubinin said that the Central Bank could account for "every cent" of the IMF loan to bail out the crisis-ridden economy.

On Sunday, Russia's chief auditor Venyamin Sokolov told the BBC that billions of dollars in aid sent by the west to help his country's economy have been wasted.

He said some of the money was lost to corruption and much of the rest was used improperly.

But reacting to earlier similar allegations made by the Russian prosecutor-general, Mr Dubinin said: "We received $4.8bn from the IMF, and the Central Bank was put in charge of the money in accordance with the usual procedure regarding the reserves.

Former Russian governor "surprised" and "alarmed" by allegations

"It was the first time that the Central Bank had received money to replenish the reserve, and the money did not go to the budget - we can account for what is happening to every cent, every dollar, every single German mark."

Mr Dubinin, who resigned earlier this month, said he was "surprised or even alarmed" after Russia's Prosecutor-General Yuri Skuratov's said there had been irregularities in the use of IMF loans.

"I did not expect that such a high-ranking official would allow himself to make such assumptions while an investigation is still in progress," Mr Dubinin said.

"I cannot accept them, I believe that these allegations are groundless and simply irresponsible."