Putin Castigates US for Exploiting Both Allies and Other Economic Players

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in VTB Bank's investment forum Russia Calling! The event's theme was entitled: "Making Deglobalization: Uniting Sovereign Economies."

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the United States at the VTB investment forum "Russia Calling!", stating that the US was taking advantage of its allies and other players in the global economy.

"The United States is in charge. VTB CEO Andrei Kostin already said that they share with some others, with their allies. [But] no, it turned out that in practice they also exploit their allies. As well as all other economic players," Putin noted.

Experts estimate that the monopoly of large Western banks will be undermined in the near future, Putin has said.

"According to experts, within the next few years there will be a real revolution that will finally undermine the monopoly of large Western banks. And they themselves, as we can already see, are not in the best shape. At least some of them are, that's for sure," Putin pointed out.

The Russian head of state also said that he expects to see radical changes in the global banking system due to the emergence of new technologies, most notably, blockchain.

Moscow favors a truly democratic model of global economic development, Putin stressed.

"We want to create a new model, one that is truly democratic and one where truly fair competition among all participants in economic activity prevails," Putin stressed.

According to the president, this sort of change in the global economy's landscape and the emergence of new leaders is an objective and largely natural process.

According to Putin, Moscow's detractors who sought to limit Russians’ access to global payment systems have seen their plans completely fall apart. He further emphasized that Russia would keep on bolstering its sovereignty in this particular domain.

"The goals set by our critics have clearly not been achieved, on the contrary, we are only strengthening our sovereignty in this sphere, and we are doing it quite confidently," Putin affirmed.

The nation's GDP will grow by at least 3.5% by the end of this year, so this is a good indicator for the Russian economy, Putin stressed.

"Thus, over the 10 months of this year, Russia’s GDP grew by 3.2%. Today, it is already higher than it was before the Western sanction attack. It is expected that by the end of this year, at least we all really count on it, GDP will increase by at least 3.5% ... this is a good indicator for the Russian economy," Putin said.

Russia's GDP growth rate outshines all European Union countries, the nation's leader highlighted.

Additionally, the president said that the Russian federal budget deficit for the 11 months of this year amounted to 878 billion rubles ($9.5 billion).

Putin criticized the current financial system that relies on the supremacy of the dollar and the euro, as well as the exclusive use of Western banks and the SWIFT system for settlements. He maintained that this system has lost credibility.

Numerous international companies, despite harassment from their bureaucrats, want to work in Russia, so they have changed only the name, Vladimir Putin noted.

"Many foreign companies and organizations, despite pressure from their governments, [and] their officials, have said that they want to continue working in our country. We only welcome this. And these are our colleagues who, despite external pressure, either changed their name and maintained their presence in the market, or, if we're honest, simply handed over the management with the right to buy back, that's all. And God bless them," Putin said.

He noted that Russia simply offers its support, allowing them to continue their operations.