"We should not close [the domestic market], but under otherwise equal conditions Russian producers should be favored," the president said at a conference on social and economic development in the Urals Federal District.
The president added that countries focused on domestic markets were less affected by the global financial crisis than those who relied on imports.
Medvedev also gave his tentative backing to a proposal to create a fund to support enterprises that would be responsible for supporting the most important companies during the current financial crisis, in particular companies around which entire towns were based.
"As an idea it is possible and probably necessary in the current situation. Other states that have not previously been known to be fond of state-planning of the economy are moving along this path as well," Dmitry Medvedev said.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said earlier in the day that the Russian government planned to raise duties on imports of agricultural machinery up to 15% for a period of nine months to support domestic producers of agricultural machinery.
