Russia’s economic growth depends on successful transformations – Medvedev

MOSCOW. Oct 2 (Interfax) – Russia’s economic growth will depend on the success of structural transformations in the economy, which cannot be accomplished rapidly, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.

The sanctions and the external pressure on Russia “are bad, but these are not the main [factors],” he said in an interview with the Voskresnoye Vremya program aired by Channel One.

“As you know, structural problems have been piling up in our economy over decades, i.e. there is a deformity in the very economic system,” he said.

The economic structure cannot be changed “within one year or two or even a decade,” the prime minister said.

“The present-day structure of the Russian economy is rooted in the Soviet economy, which took 50-60 years to be built. These are Soviet-era machine building and, of course, oil and gas, which are the main source of our exports and revenue, and also the defense industry. This is the economy that we have. Indeed, it has pros and cons, but it still needs a reform, and that will take a substantial amount of time,” the prime minister said.

“An economic growth will depend on how much our transformations are successful,” Medvedev said.