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Official says structural problem in Russian economy surfaced before Ukrainian crisis

"The sanctions are a supplementary component", First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said

© EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV

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No deep economic crisis occurs in Russia — Putin

ST PETERSBURG, June 19. /TASS/. Structural problems in the Russian economy surfaced before the outbreak of the current crisis in Ukraine at the end of 2014 and their solution requires structural reforms, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said on Friday.

"We’re going through a crisis and it’s broader than the complexities linked to sanctions," he said. "The sanctions are a supplementary component. It’s true that we’re experiencing restrictions on loans and access to financial markets but the slowdown of economic growth started showing up before all those events in Ukraine and (the reunification with) Crimea."

"That’s why these are the accrued structural programmes and we must resolve them," Shuvalov said. "For this purpose, we need structural reforms.".

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