The worst of the global financial crisis and economic downturn was over in Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"I can say with a large degree of confidence that the peak of the crisis is over, though turbulent factors in the global economy and, as a consequence, in the Russian economy, still persist," Putin said at a televised annual phone-in session.

Therefore continued effort, resources and time still needed to be put into anti-crisis measures, the prime minister said.

"But, on the whole, positive trends are becoming ever more evident," he said.

Putin specified several economic indicators in 2009 that indicated the tide had turned, including an inflation rate below 9percent, a contraction of 8.5 to 8.7 percent in Russia's gross domestic product (GDP), and a fall in industrial output of 13 percent.

The Russian Economic Development Ministry previously estimated a decline of 9.6 percent of GDP year-on-year in the first 10 months this year, during which the industrial output contracted by 13.3 percent.

Russia's economic growth is estimated to hit 1.6 percent in 2010, and then further rise to 3 percent and 4.3 percent in 2011 and 2012.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2009)