“Over the past three years, Russia’s GDP has been growing quickly, by about 7 percent a year. In 2004, we expect approximately the same rate of growth,” Mr. Zhukov said. He added that similar figures, just a bit lower, were planned for 2005.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, people have started investing more in recent years, and investments are growing twice as fast as the GDP. He also noted that personal incomes were rising faster than the GDP and labor productivity.

Mr. Zhukov admitted that this impressive performance was largely due to a favorable situation on foreign markets. At the same time, he stressed that the Russian economy was ready for less favorable conditions. According to him, Russia’s economy “will remain stable despite any changes in energy prices”, thanks to the Stabilization Fund.

Earlier, the Economy Minister expected lower GDP growth in 2004 – 6.9 percent. The nominal GDP was projected to be $554.3bn. Last year, the Russian economy grew by 7.3 percent. In the first half of 2004, it grew 7.4 percent. At a government meeting on August 19, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov insisted that the Economy Ministry review its forecast and project GDP growth at 7.2 percent.