"
The Russian economy is suffering a lot
," said Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, who said he "
did not believe
" in the "
propaganda
" of official statistics published by Moscow.
Questioned on the sidelines of a trip to the Rungis market (Val-de-Marne), about the official figures on the contraction of Russian gross domestic product (GDP) by 2.1% in 2022, the French president replied: "
it is they who say -2%, I say that it is much more
”.
“
They make money off the gas they sell to others but the rest of the economy suffers a lot.
So I don't believe these figures at all
,” said the head of state.
Russian statistics
it's propaganda, it's a country that is no longer a democratic, free country, with an independent (statistical) institute
, ”he said.
Read alsoRussia: GDP resists better than expected and drops by 2.1% in 2022
According to figures from Russia's Rosstat Statistics Agency released on Monday, Russia's GDP contracted by 2.1% in 2022, with the economy appearing to be more resilient than expected to the impact of heavy Western sanctions after the Moscow offensive in Ukraine.
Emmanuel Macron also underlined that "
hundreds of thousands of young people (...) left so as not to be mobilized
" and that the Russians had "
lost a lot of opportunities
" from an economic point of view.