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RUSSIA'S ECONOMY

Russian ex-finance minister: Politics now matters more than good economic plan

According to Alexey Kudrin, Russia is currently on the threshold of new changes and is ready for reforms

Alexey Kudrin Sergey Bobylev/TASS

Alexey Kudrin

© Sergey Bobylev/TASS

MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. The role of politics and political leaders today matters more than a good economic plan, ex-Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin said at the 17th April international scientific conference on Wednesday.

"At short-term stages, the role of politics and political leaders is now higher than the role of a good and wise plan prepared by economists," Kudrin told the conference organized by the Higher School of Economics.

Russia is currently on the threshold of new changes and is ready for reforms, the ex-finance minister said.

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"There are serious grounds in Russia for successful transformations," Kudrin said.

The ex-finance minister said on the sidelines of the conference that he had accepted a proposal to become chairman of the Council at the Center for Strategic Research (CSR) and the organization’s president would be announced in coming days.

"I received a proposal and I have already consented to it. Now the approval procedure is under way. The CSR Council will convene in the coming days. It has been decided that I’ll come as chairman of the CSR Council. Correspondingly, the president’s post will be taken up by another person who will be announced soon," Kudrin said.

The CSR headed by Herman Gref who subsequently became Russia’s economic development minister prepared an economic program in 1999 for the first presidential term of Vladimir Putin.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier said that the Kremlin would only welcome Kudrin’s decision to take part in the preparation of a new economic program.

According to Peskov, Kudrin possesses excellent expert knowledge and was one of the most successful government members and one of the best finance ministers in the world.

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Russia's domestic policy

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