SOCHI, September 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian economy grows badly, the GDP rise will not exceed 0.5% in 2014, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an exclusive interview with ITAR-TASS. However, the GDP growth will make 2-3% in 2016-2017.

“We have our forecasts. They are not quite optimistic. I would not have said about it in public, but I will say so, giving an interview to you. So, speaking frankly, our economy grows badly. But world economy also does not grow quite well,” the premier said, adding that “This year will certainly be very hard with a 0.5% GDP growth rate.”

“Next year we believe that the growth will be no higher than one percent, slightly more than one percent,” the prime minister said, adding that “This is approximately the growth rate European economy posts. We are not better, but also not worse.”

In his view, a weak European growth “has an effect on our economy absolutely for sure.” “European economy soars as well as our economy, American economy a little bit better, Chinese economy surely shows a more serious growth at 7-7.5% But putting it straightforwardly, this is a Chinese factor all the same,” he added.

Medvedev noted that the GDP growth is expected at 2-3% in 2016-2017.

“In 2016-2017 we hope to reach a more stable trend of 2-2.5-3% We would like to have it higher, but we understand that this is a quite heavily attainable task,” he said.

Two barriers are standing on the way of high rates: a domestic factor, this is infrastructure barriers, that is to say the lack of communications and roads. “And this is external influence...” the premier said, adding that “If we make up for first and second factors obviously the situation will be developing much better.”

“For the last few years we have raised economy quite strongly,” he added. “The size of our economy is several times higher now than that we had 10-12 years ago,” Medvedev said, adding that “That economy which existed could grow naturally at high rates, because the smaller economy is, the quicker it grows. In this sense, we can hardly expect growth rates our neighbours post. But their economy is much smaller than ours.