Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaking on the effect of Western sanctions to the State Duma on Tuesday.
Russia will adjust its economic course to make the country less vulnerable to another possible wave of sanctions from the West and will look for new partners to diversify its hydrocarbon exports, said Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday in an annual report to members of the State Duma.
The prime minister said that full economic isolation from the West would not be lethal for Russia, but he did confirm that the country was under massive pressure.
He said that any imposed restrictions on trade and economic relations are doomed to failure.
"If, however, some Western partners will go on with these measures we will do fine on our own and will win," the prime minister said.
The modified economic policy aimed at protecting Russia from the impact of sanctions should include relying on locally made substitutes for imported products, Medvedev said.
He also said that the government would find means to support local companies if their businesses were affected by a freeze in relations with foreign partners or even if whole markets closed down.
At the same time Russia will not initiate a breakup of relations with Europe, he said.
"This is not in our interest as our trade turnover with it is $400 billion," Medvedev said.
But if Europe made a move to freeze relations, Russia would seek partners elsewhere — in China and India, as well as the Asia-Pacific region in general and Latin America — to minimize the consequences of this decision, the prime minister said.
