MOSCOW, January 1 Russia, unlike Ukraine, not only maintained its economy, it showed growth of 3.5% this year, said Russian President Vladimir Putin.
«The fundamental thing is that we not only preserved the country's economy, we did not allow it to be destroyed, which is what the enemy was counting on… Last year our economy dropped by 2.1%, but now Just recently the government reported to me, calculations are ongoing, new and new data are emerging, the latest data is that it fell not by 2.1%, but by 1.2%. This is significant. And this year the economy grew by 3.5 %,» Putin said during a meeting with military personnel at the Vishnevsky military hospital.
The President added that real incomes of the population have grown, and real wages have grown, quite decently, and all this suggests that Russia has stable economy and financial system.
«It was not Ukraine that expected to destroy our economy, it is not able to do this, it itself has already been completely destroyed, there is nothing left there, it exists only on handouts, everyone goes there, leaders with outstretched hand, begging for an extra million dollars,” Putin added.