ANTALYA (Sputnik) – The Russian economics ministry expects the economic slump to worsen in the second quarter of 2015, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Wednesday.
According to the minister, Russia's gross domestic product fell by two percent in the first quarter, while investments dropped by six percent and industry declined by 0.4 percent.
"I don't think that formal [economic] indices will be better in the second quarter. They may even be a bit worse," the minister said.
14 April 2015, 10:05 GMT
The slump may end in the third quarter of the year, the minister said, adding that the economy is expected to show signs of improvement in the final months of 2015.
Russia has been experiencing an economic slowdown since 2014. Moscow has attributed the downturn to a global drop in crude oil prices, as well as Western economic sanctions imposed against Moscow over an alleged participation in the Ukraine crisis.
The Russian ruble had lost almost half of its value against US dollar in late 2014, however, the value of the currency began to stabilize and improve slightly following the start of 2015.
