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Inflated ‘cyber attack’ hysteria won’t hurt Russian economy, finance minister vows

"There are no hackers working for the Russian government, so our government does not consider any actions by hackers, nor does it coordinate them", Anton Siluanov said

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov

© Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS

NEW YORK, July 21. /TASS/. Russia’s authorities don’t use the services of hackers and the allegations of this sort won’t harm the country’s economy, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview with CNBC.

Earlier, the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Center claimed that hackers allegedly linked to Russian special services had tried to steal data on the research of COVID-19 vaccine in the UK, Canada and the US. In comment on this claim, the Russian minister stressed: "There are no hackers working for the Russian government, so our government does not consider any actions by hackers, nor does it coordinate them."

Siluanov stressed that Russia was not related to any cyber attacks, including the alleged attempts to obtain data on the coronavirus vaccine’s research. The minister emphasized that Russia was developing its own vaccine. "Therefore I do not really see any point for hackers to be involved in these activities," Siluanov added.

The finance minister did not voice any concerns over speculation that the hackers’ activity could make Russia less attractive for investors and harm the economy. "How could it impact the economy? I really do not think that it would have any impact on the economy. We are following our own course of anti-crisis measures, we shall be putting them in place. These negative stories do appear from time to time, unfortunately," he said.

"The main point is the type of policies we pursue. They are balanced. I spoke about our fiscal policy at the G20 (Group of 20) finance ministers’ meeting. We have no problems with plugging the budget deficit, we are finding our own domestic investors. Should we borrow money outside Russia, or shouldn’t we? We shall see, all depends on market conditions. I am sure, however, that we shall be able to borrow externally at excellent rates," Siluanov noted.

Siluanov also stressed the importance of attracting investments. "There has been a recovery in domestic investors’ activity in our economy, and we always welcome foreign investors, too. I would disagree that Russia’s image has suffered from hackers’ attacks or other negative news, it has not. The most important thing is the balanced macro-economic policy that we pursue," he said.

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