Russia’s Putin says believes liberalism became obsolete

MOSCOW, Jun 28 (PRIME) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Financial Times in an interview that liberal idea had outlived its purpose, and even many Western politicians had admitted that.

“There is also the so-called liberal idea, which has outlived its purpose. Our Western partners have admitted that some elements of the liberal idea, such as multiculturalism, are no longer tenable,” Putin said.

He noted that the migration problem was what forced many to rethink their approach to the policy of multiculturalism.

Speaking of the Russian economy, Putin said that it has overcome difficulties caused by both internal and external shocks, including falling export prices.

“We can see that the economy has overcome those difficulties that were caused by internal and external shocks. The external shocks were related to restrictions and slumping prices on our traditional export products. The economy has stabilized. The macroeconomic situation in the country is stable. It is not accidental and all rating agencies registered it,” Putin said.

Real wages in Russia started growing, but Russians’ real disposable incomes are falling due to payments of interest rates on consumer loans and a short-term effect connected with the value-added tax (VAT) increase to 20% from 18%, Putin said.

Russia needs vast foreign exchange and gold reserves that will allow it to feel confident, the president said.

“We have over U.S. $500 billion in gold and foreign currency reserves, rather than $460 billion. But the understanding is that we need to create a safety net that would let us feel confident and use the interest on our existing resources. If we have 7% more, we can spend those 7%,” he said.

Putin believes the work of the Russian central bank “deserves support” as it is related to both the improvement of the country's financial system and calibrated policy regarding the key interest rate.

There are no oligarchs in Russia now, there are major companies, but there are almost no companies using some preferences from the authorities, Putin also said.

“You know, first of all, we do not have oligarchs any more. Oligarchs are those who use their proximity to the authorities to receive super profits. We have large companies, private ones, or with government participation. But I do not know of any large companies that get preferential treatment from being close to the authorities, these are practically non-existent,” he said.

Putin also said that both Moscow and London are interested in fully restoring bilateral relations.“I think that both Russia and the U.K. are interested in fully restoring our relations. At least I hope that a few preliminary steps will be made,” he said. The Russian leader noted that U.K. companies were eager to work with Russia.“We know that businesses in the U.K. (by the way, I had a meeting with our British colleagues in this same room), they want to work with us, they are working with us and intend to continue doing so. And we support this intent,” he said.

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