Russian State Leader Vladimir Putin, in a meeting with government officials in the capital city of Moscow, said that Russia’s oil production increased by 2 percent last year to 535 million tons despite the sanctions.
Explaining that natural gas production decreased by 11.8 percent, Putin said, “However, as you know, global gas prices have increased significantly due to the activities of Western countries, and as a result, Russian gas producers and exporters have made sufficient profits in the last two years.”
Pointing out that Russia’s budget deficit, with the prestige of 2022, is 3.3 trillion rubles (approximately 48 billion dollars) and 2.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), “Such a budget deficit is It is in the middle of the most adequate indicators in the middle”.
“Not only foreigners but also our own experts expected a 10-20 percent shrinkage”
Stating that the Russian economy completed 2022 in a more positive way than the expectations, Putin said, “According to the numbers of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the economy shrank by only 2.1 percent in the January-November period of last year. In addition to foreigners, even some of our own experts were expecting a shrinkage of 10 or even 20 percent in the economy. We expect the shrinkage to be at the level of 2.5 percent with the prestige of 2022 in general,” he said.
Emphasizing that the employment gap in some regions and branches continues, Putin said, “The biggest decrease was experienced in a number of different fields besides automotive. The government needs to work to rectify this situation and we have all the means to do so. “We need to stimulate employment and growth in real prices,” he said.
