Russia has not yet fully recovered from the global economic crisis so the government will continue to implement anti-crisis measures, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
"Along with the rest of the global economy, our Russian economy is gradually recovering from the crisis. But our recovery will not be quick, so it is very important to be governed by the question of whether we have overcome the downturn or not," Putin said.
"If we think we have overcome the crisis, we should halt the various anti-crisis programs," the prime minister said during his 2,000-kilometer trip along the newly completed highway from Khabarovsk to Chita.
"If we believe that the market has not yet recovered, and the purchasing power of citizens has not yet been restored, we must continue to support these [anti-crisis] measures," he said. "We believe that we should continue these programs."
Putin singled out Russia's version of the so-called cash-for-clunkers program in the United States, which has boosted struggling Russian carmakers.
Many experts believe the recovery process will be drawn-out, Putin said, adding that this view was in his opinion confirmed by actual events.
The prime minister also said Russia's economic situation was closely connected to Europe's since "the EU countries are Russia's major economic partners."
Commenting on the government's actions in tackling the downturn, Putin said he was satisfied with the so-called "manual mode" of crisis management in which an individual approach was applied to any distinct problem.
"I want to note that such important economic development issues can not be solved in fully automatic mode. If you look at the debates in the British Parliament, you'll see that during the crisis period the participants of debates merely repeated every single thing that being discussed in Russia's State Duma," Putin said.
He also praised Russian oligarchs who had to put their entire fortunes at stake in order to keep workplaces open and enterprises themselves afloat.
"As it is said in some business circles, it is better to cash out, take money from the state and cast off the responsibility," Putin said.
He said that it was therefore "strange and surprising" that the wealthiest businessmen in Russia "demonstrated responsibility and did not show greed or stinginess in the crisis period, and were willing to sacrifice their fortunes, their time and, it can be said without exaggeration, their fate."
AMUR HIGHWAY (Khabarovsk territory), August 27 (RIA Novosti)
