MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. The global economy will begin to recover after the current situation with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) stabilizes, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during the government session on economic issues on Saturday. He added that Russia’s oil industry is ready for volatility on world markets.

"Today, the global economy is going through a very negative period, which directly affects the oil market: oil prices have dropped by over 60% since the start of the year and by 55% in the past month," Mishustin stated. "This happened due to the effect of the coronavirus on the global economy and the risk of expanded supply." He noted that the daily oil price moves surpass 10%, which is "a clear sign of uncertainty of market players about the next steps."

The Russian head of government explained that the situation with the novel coronavirus is the most significant factor affecting the economy and causing a drop in oil prices.

"The global economy will begin to recover gradually only after the epidemiological situation in the world normalizes," he added. "The Russian oil industry is ready for such volatility, it is one of the most competitive [industries] in the world."

Mishustin added that Russian companies maintain their production volume. "As for petrol prices, the government and the Ministry of Energy monitor the supply of oil products to the market daily and exercise price control," he added.

A pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 virus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in China’s city of Wuhan, a large trade and industrial center with a population of 12 million, in late December 2019. Cases of the new coronavirus have also been reported in more than 150 countries and territories, among them Russia, which by now has over 250 cases, including over 130 cases in Moscow. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that the novel coronavirus cases across the globe have exceeded 240,000, with more than 10,000 deaths. WHO has officially described the situation with the novel coronavirus as a pandemic.