Russia's economic growth would be close to zero in 2009 due to the global financial crisis, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Friday.

"Our economic growth will most likely be close to zero, and the situation to a great extent will depend on our own measures," Kudrin was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

Russia's budgetary revenues in 2009 could decline from 10.9 trillion rubles (US$321 billion) to 6.5 trillion (US$191.5 billion) amid the financial meltdown, Kudrin said.

Igor Shuvalov, Russia's first deputy prime minister, said Friday in the State Duma that the country's economic situation will be "fairly harsh" in 2009.

"The overall situation throughout 2009 will be fairly harsh. That doesn't mean that we expect the situation to be out of our control," he said, adding that Russia should change the structure of its economy to get through the crisis with minimum losses.

According to preliminary data from the Economic Development Ministry, Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew slightly less than 6 percent in 2008.

The Russian economy experienced tremendous challenges as it moved from a centrally planned economy to a free market system since the fall of the Soviet Union. However, the country appeared to have solved the difficulties well as its GDP growth rate reached 8.1 percent in 2007.

But its resource-driven economy has been hit by the dramatic fall in world oil prices since last year and is confronting the negatives of the current financial crisis.