First Deputy PM Belousov: No economic crisis in Russia

MOSCOW, Mar 16 (PRIME) -- There is no crisis in the Russian economy, even though the government’s measures contains the moves similar to those used during the 2008–2009 and the 2014 crisis years, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said on Monday at a meeting of the government’s council for fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

“These measures are connected to drafting of a list of system-forming companies in the first place. We comprised these lists in 2008–2009 during the crisis and in 2014. We have no crisis now, but we thought it was necessary to develop and update the list,” he said.

The government will pay close attention to these companies and would create a special commission to collect requests from these companies, like requests to restructure loans and debts or requests for subsidies, he said.

The list of government’s support measures is divided into several groups. The first group encompasses support of retailers that ensures delivery of first-priority goods to citizens, and it is about financial measures that ease lending terms and administrative measures that ease customs clearance.

The second group ensures support of troubled industries like aviation, tourism, and housing construction. The third group ensures support of small and medium-sized businesses like a moratorium on inspections and expansion of access to easy-term lending for small companies, he said.

Russia’s position in this crisis is unique due to contraction of oil prices, as Moscow is unable to use the measures that other leading countries of the world use to cope with the coronavirus situation, Belousov said.

“Russia is in a rather unique situation as compared to the other countries as we are suffering from a double blow, from a shock of (oil) prices falling from about U.S. $65 per barrel at the beginning of the year to $35 barrel, and instability of global financial markets affects us. It goes in addition to the consequences of restrictions that our country imposes in line with the other states,” he said.

“We’ve analyzed the mechanisms that we could use in these circumstances for a long time, and I can say that the mechanisms that leading countries of the world use, I mean inflation of demand, are risky for us as the markets have not stabilized yet and we may get an opposite result instead of stabilization, like a plunge of the ruble with negative social consequences,” he said.

The Agriculture Ministry said in a statement quoting Minister Dmitry Patrushev that the situation on the Russian food market. The ministry’s goal is to keep the sector stable, and it has developed an additional list of state support measures for farmers, the ministry said.

The regional directorates of the ministry report no price hikes for food, including for macaroni, grain, and canned products. Nevertheless, Patrushev ordered the regional branches of his ministry to analyze the amount of food in retail chains and ensure reserves that would last for at least two months, the ministry said.

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