MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. The use of unfair competition has become a tactic of Western countries in international economic relations, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said.

"We also see that during the transition stage, any methods of the so-called unfair competition [from the West] are permissible. We see that sanctions, as well as other tariff and non-tariff restrictions, have begun to play a major role," he told a forum.

"Freezing foreign assets, detaining ships in the open sea, which previously seemed unacceptable, restricting the freedom of people’s movement, all this is intended to weaken competitors, devalue their assets and subsequently facilitate the establishment of control over corresponding assets," Overchuk noted.