MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin commended Sberbank CEO Herman Gref and his team for their vision and work in key technology areas.

"Herman Oskarovich, you and the people you have gathered around you, had the foresight to see and recognize promising areas, crucial and cross-cutting trends and simultaneously the foresight to adopt them and invest the necessary resources," the head of state told Gref.

"That is why we, even in rather challenging times - we don’t need to list all the causes and hurdles we have faced in prior years - with the help of Sber, even if it was not directly in the range of your responsibilities, managed nevertheless <...> to achieve such positions that made it possible for us not merely to lag behind competitors but to progress, sometimes even to be ahead," Putin said, thanking Gref.