Mr. Medvedev said “terrible” sanctions from the West had failed to destabilize the Russian economy.
“The hostile countries are not brave enough to admit their ‘terrible’ sanctions have failed. They have no effect,” Russian Security Council Vice President Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram today. .
According to Mr. Medvedev, most of Western industrial and consumer goods have been replaced by domestic products and brands from Asia.
“Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that the Russian economy will grow this year,” Medvedev added. Moreover, parallel imports are also effective and Russian consumers can still access Western brands.
Deputy Chairman of Russia’s National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev during a Security Council meeting in the Kremlin in November 2022. Photo: AFP
Russia in February 2022 launched a military campaign in Ukraine, prompting the West to impose a series of sanctions in response. Many Western brands then had to adjust their operations in Russia, cease operations or leave the market.
Russia’s economy started 2022 relatively positive but then went down due to the impact of sanctions. Russia is more dependent on energy exports and has a budget deficit equivalent to 2.3% of GDP in 2022, more than twice the target.
President Vladimir Putin on January 17 said that Russia’s economy in 2022 may shrink by 2.5%, but it is still better than many experts’ forecasts. Russian officials believe that the country’s economy is gradually recovering and that sanctions will have a knock-on effect on the West as energy prices rise, pushing up inflation.
The IMF on January 30 updated its World Economic Outlook report, adjusting its forecast for Russia’s economy to grow by 0.3% in 2023, reversing the forecast of a 2.3% contraction made in October 2022. For 2024, the IMF forecasts that the Russian economy will grow by 2.1%, revised up by 0.6 percentage points.
However, Koeva Brooks, deputy director of the IMF’s Research Department, warned that Western sanctions have not yet shown their full impact on the Russian economy.
Like Tam (Theo TASS, euronews)