Putin made evaluations about the country’s economy at a meeting with government officials in the capital Moscow.
Explaining that the country’s economy performed well in the first quarter of this year, Putin said, “Consolidated budget revenues exceeded 13 trillion rubles in the first quarter of this year. Revenues excluding oil and natural gas increased by 14 percent to 1.4 trillion rubles.
“Oil and natural gas revenues fell by 1.3 trillion rubles,” Putin said. There are still external threats to our economy, and we are well aware of this. It would be wrong to relax on this issue and to let the situation flow by believing that everything will be fine by itself, we have no right to do so.”
Pointing out that difficulties continue in the country’s economy, especially in the automotive, timber processing, chemical product production and fertilizer sectors, Putin said that various steps will be taken to solve the problems in these areas.
Explaining that companies in Russia did not resort to mass layoffs despite the difficult conditions, Putin commented, “Now, the situation has changed fundamentally, the unemployment rate in the country is at the lowest level in history at 3.5 percent, there are not enough employees in most areas.”
Putin emphasized that the problems related to the employment gap should be solved by using technology.