Interfax: In 2008 crisis also came from abroad, Russia resolved problems by itself – Putin

NOVO-OGARYOVO. Jan 21 (Interfax) – The current, critical situation in the Russian economy was provoked from abroad, President Vladimir Putin believes.

“I want to remind you that this is not the first situation of its kind which we are going through. We went through the same thing in 2008 and 2009. Then the crisis also came from the outside, it started with the collapse of the mortgage system in the U.S.,” he said.

“The situation on foreign, in this case commodity markets” is a major reason for the current situation in the Russian economy, Putin said.

“If we speak of the so-called sanctions’ effect, I want to remind you that I cannot recall either that there was anyone willing to extend loans to Russian financial institutions in conditions of the 2008 crisis either,” he said.

He stressed that during the 2008 crisis Russia resolved its problems “solely by itself, relying on its development institutions and available resources.”

In this respect “little has changed” since then, Putin said.