MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. The period of low oil prices may last for decades, Russia’s Economic Development Minister Aleksey Ulyukayev said on Wednesday.

"For commodity-based economies such as Russia … the period of low commodity prices will be very long. I find it difficult to judge whether it’s the era of global commodity cycle or simply a new pattern. But I’m convinced that this is [going to be] a very long period of time," he said.

The minister added though that one should not be scared of oil price at the level of $20 or $15 per barrel. "Logics suggests that the less it falls today the more it’s probable to bounce back tomorrow. This is not the biggest risk. The biggest risk is that low prices [are likely to be] protracted, meaning for years or decades," he said.

Russian Central Bank’s optimistic scenario implies that oil prices will bounce back to $75 per barrel, head of the regulator’s monetary policy department Igor Dmitriev said on Wednesday.

"Our optimistic scenario implies that oil price will bounce back to the range of $70-75 (per barrel)," he said.