Russia will withstand second recession wave - Medvedev

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says that Russia has a good chance of withstanding the second wave of the global economic recession, judging by the indicators of economic development in the last years, ITAR-TASS reports.

The GDP will be at about 4-4.5%, compared with 0-1% in the EU and the US, Medvedev said at a meeting with workers and engineers and activists of the United Russia Party at the Amur cable factory on Friday.

2011 saw the lowest inflation rate in Russian history - about 7%. The president reminded that inflation at the neighbour state of Belarus was 100%.

Ratio of the state debt to the GDP is only 13%. Unemployment has dropped sufficiently in the last years. The state needs to be less dependable on prices for resources to avoid the scenario of 2008.

Medvedev noted that economy needs diversification, development of industry, the real sector of economy and needs a "new industrialization differing from the one in 1930s. The president mentioned problems within the euro zone and spoke for making agreements with partners.