Putin Ties Kudrin Forecast to Stress
Russia's economy, heading into its first recession in a decade, could grow again next year, and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin predicted a longer crisis because he is stressed, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said late Wednesday.
"In 2010, the rise should resume," Putin told workers at a rail car factory in the town of Tver. "Alexei Leonidovich [Kudrin] is in a certain state of stress because he is under a lot of pressure and on the defensive. But I don't think we will be under this kind of pressure for the next 20 years."
Kudrin, a relative pessimist in the oversight, on Tuesday said the government's forecast of a 2.2 percent contraction in the economy this year was "optimistic."
Kudrin warned that the oil-rich country should not expect a return of the kind of favorable conditions it had enjoyed in recent years for the next "five, 10, 20 or 50 years."
"In 2010, the rise should resume," Putin told workers at a rail car factory in the town of Tver. "Alexei Leonidovich [Kudrin] is in a certain state of stress because he is under a lot of pressure and on the defensive. But I don't think we will be under this kind of pressure for the next 20 years."
Kudrin, a relative pessimist in the oversight, on Tuesday said the government's forecast of a 2.2 percent contraction in the economy this year was "optimistic."
Kudrin warned that the oil-rich country should not expect a return of the kind of favorable conditions it had enjoyed in recent years for the next "five, 10, 20 or 50 years."
