President Vladimir Putin on Thursday pledged to diversify Russia’s oil-and-gas dependent economy and said he was confident the weakening rouble will recover.
He blamed Western economic sanctions imposed over Moscow’s support for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine and the slump in oil prices as the reasons for the recent fall in the rouble.
“Our economy will overcome the current situation. How much time will be needed for that? Under the most unfavourable circumstances I think it will take about two years,” he said during his annual end-of-year news conference that lasted more than three hours.
“The current situation has been provoked by external …read more
Source: Novinite
