Politics
http://www.putin-today.ru/
Putin predicts
economic recovery but warns West against pressuring Russian ‘bear’
MOSCOW —Russian President Vladimir
Putin, under pressure to show a path out of the country’s economic crisis,
predicted Thursday recovery in two years at the most despite mounting bad news:
a looming recession, a severely weakened ruble and growing fears about the country’s
financial instability.
Speaking at his annual year-end news
conference — taking questions directly from the national and foreign media —
Putin said the Russian central bank and government were taking adequate
measures to support the ruble, which has plunged in value against the U.S.
dollar.
Putin’s news conference came as Russia
suffers through its most serious economic challenges since a 1998 fiscal
meltdown shortly before Putin’s rise to political power. The current crisis is
also a major test for Putin, whose reputation is largely built on safeguarding
Russia’s strength and stability.
“Rates of growth may be slowing down,
but the economy will still grow and our economy will overcome the current
situation,” Putin said at the televised news conference. “I believe about two
years is the worst case scenario. After that, I believe growth is imminent.”
A steady depreciation of the ruble has
been underway for the last several months, fueled by falling oil prices —
Russia’s main export — and Western economic sanctions over Russia’s involvement
in Ukraine.
But it turned into wild swings in the
exchange rate over the past few days, with rates peaking at almost 80 rubles to
the dollar Tuesday after the central bank dramatically raised interest rates.
The ruble lost more ground against the
dollar Thursday despite central bank action to shore up the currency, which is
around 45 percent down against the dollar this year.
A weakened currency drives up prices,
makes it harder for companies to repay loans that were taken out in dollars or
euros, and waters down Russians’ savings.
Putin had been silent as the currency
collapsed this week.
He acknowledged partly that Russia had
helped to lay the groundwork for the current crisis by failing to diversify the
economy.
But in general, he blamed “external
factors, first and foremost” for creating Russia’s situation — and continued to
be defiant, blaming the West for intentionally trying to weaken Russia and
foment problems, economic and otherwise, in the country.
“No matter what we do they are always
against us,” Putin said, one of a series of observations directed at how he
said the West has been treating Russia.
Putin attributed Western sanctions that
have targeted Russia’s defense, oil and gas and banking sectors for about “25
percent” of Russia’s current difficulties.
But Putin remained defiant about the
actions that brought on the Western backlash, including Russia’s annexation of
the Crimea peninsula after pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine began an
uprising earlier this year. Putin repeated Moscow’s claim that Russia has not
directly aided the rebels.
“Taking Texas from Mexico is fair, but
whatever we are doing is not fair?” he said, in comments seemingly directed at
the United States.
Putin also suggested that the West was
demanding too many concessions from Russia, including further nuclear
disarmament. Likening Russia to a bear — a longtime symbol of the country — he
chided the West for insisting the Russian bear “just eat honey instead of
hunting animals.”
“They are trying to chain the bear. And
when they manage to chain the bear, they will take out his fangs and claws,”
Putin said. “This is how nuclear deterrence is working at the moment.”
The news conference was heavily promoted
on Russian state television Wednesday in a 40-second trailer with images of
Russian triumph against the perils of the world.
Despite the economic woes buffeting his
nation, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll
released Thursday found that some 80 percent of Russians still support him.
In a sign that the Kremlin viewed the
crisis not just as an economic threat but as a danger to Russia’s fundamental
security, the Russian Security Council said Wednesday it had drawn up a
response plan and given it to Putin to review. The head of the council, Nikolai
Patrushev, a former head of the successor agency to the KGB, did not disclose
details. The body usually focuses on matters of war and peace, and it is highly
unusual for it to become involved in economic policymaking.
“The government and central bank have
begun working seriously on stopping this bacchanalia on the currency market,”
Putin aide Andrei Belousov told Russian news agencies after Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev convened an emergency meeting of top economic officials and the
heads of major energy companies.
Putin’s press secretary on Wednesday
promised “a number of measures” in coming days to fight the crisis.
Russian leaders also have sounded
somewhat more conciliatory toward Ukraine in recent days, perhaps in a bid to
ease sanctions. The measures were imposed after the Kremlin annexed Crimea in
March and then helped to fuel a pro-Russian rebellion in eastern Ukraine.
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