Moscow-Sana
Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that his country is diversifying its economy and relying on non-oil and gas revenues.
"Russia is not a fuel station for the world and has begun to get rid of the addiction to oil and gas revenues," the Russian president said in his annual press conference held today via video conference.
On the impact of the Corona virus pandemic on the Russian economy, the Russian president stressed that the pandemic has significantly affected the economy to a lesser extent than it affected the economies of Western countries, pointing out at the same time that the drop in the country's GDP, which reached 3.6 percent less than the leading European countries and the United States, mentioned That the economies of some European countries fell by more than 9 percent as a result of the virus outbreak.
Oil prices recorded gains of about 25 percent this month, the largest monthly increase since last May, after the development of vaccines against COVID-19 raised hopes for an economic recovery that could boost demand for fuel.
According to World Bank projections, the new Corona epidemic will affect oil demand for long periods, and the decline in oil demand will remain at 5 percent by the end of 2021.