Sanctions to Slow Down Russia's Economic Growth by 0.5% Annually - Kudrin

Western sanctions in the coming years will remain sensitive for the Russian economy, slowing down the country's economic growth by about 0.5 percentage points per year, head of Russia's Civil Initiatives Committee Alexei Kudrin said Friday.

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — According to Kudrin, in the first years after the introduction of Western sanctions against Russia, the "effect of deduction" from GDP growth was 0.8-1 percentage point per year.

"Now, it is slightly less — somewhere in the region of 0.5-0.6 percent of GDP," Kudrin, who served as Russian finance minister in 2000-2011, told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

SPIEF, a major global platform for communication between business representatives and discussion of crucial economic issues, kicked off in Russia’s St. Petersburg on Thursday and will continue through Saturday. Sputnik News Agency is the official media partner of the forum.