Against All Odds: Russian Economy in 'Active Growth' Phase, Minister Says

The Russian economy has entered the phase of active growth despite the Western sanctions and low oil prices, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said Tuesday.

SHANGHAI (Sputnik) – Western sanctions helped Russia pay attention to internal economic issues, with the country’s economy entering an active growth phase due to trade and economic policies, Oreshkin said.

Currently, China's Shanghai is hosting an annual meeting of BRICS trade ministers, where the delegations are discussing the issues of electronic trade, investment facilitation and extension of multilateral trade. Oreshkin is leading the Russian delegation in Shanghai. The ministers are also preparing for the upcoming WTO ministerial meeting, which is due to be held later this year.

"The main conclusion of the last three years is that the trade and economic policies directed their attention at the internal issues that we have. We are dealing with resolving them, so despite oil prices remaining at low levels the economy has entered the phase of active growth. This is attributable to the actions which were undertaken in the economic policies in recent years," the minister told reporters.

The Russian economy entered a difficult period in 2014 amid the slump in oil prices and Western sanctions imposed over Russia's alleged meddling in the Ukrainian conflict, which Moscow has repeatedly refuted. In August 2014, Moscow introduced an embargo on food import from the countries, which joined the anti-Russia sanctions. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin prolonged the sanctions again, this time until 2019.

Last week, both chambers of the US Congress passed a bill on extending economic sanctions against Russia. The draft is now waiting on President Trump's actions, who can either sign or veto it.