Russia manages to survive economic crisis thanks to effective measures, political stability: PM

Russia managed to survive the economic crisis due to a system of anti-crisis measures, and the results were better than most forecasts, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an article published Thursday.

He partly attributed the success to Russia's adherence to fundamentals for macroeconomic stability during a time of crisis.

"The federal budget is coping with the severe challenges ... The share of income not related to the oil and gas amounts to almost 60 percent. It's a different economic model," according to Medvedev's article published in "Voprosy Ekonomiki," a theoretical and practical journal in Russia.

"It was predicted that Russia would face an uncontrolled crisis, an inflationary spiral and a prolonged fall of the ruble, a long and deep slump in production; overall, a catastrophic scenario," Medvedev said, adding that none of the above happened because of responsible decisions made by the government.

At the same time, Medvedev emphasized that political stability is the main condition for Russia's steady economic growth.

Social support will be constantly in the focus of the government's attention. However, the best way to promote the country's welfare is to pursue steady growth, according to Medvedev's article.

Medvedev also mentioned that "it is very important that the new State Duma provides a legal platform to respond to economic challenges facing the country."

Russia's ruling United Russia party won an overwhelming victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections with over 54 percent of the vote, enabling a constitutional majority in the State Duma. Endi