MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. Russia will be guided by its national interests when deciding whether to let Western brands return to its market, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with members of the Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia) Association.
"And if something needs to be taken into account from the point of view of the interests of our business community, first of all, we will focus on your interests, on the interests of our businesses," Putin said. "This is what we will have to proceed from. Well, of course, we need to look at how this will affect the market," The President added.
The Russian leader explained that "if our market lacks something, and there is still no possibility [to produce it ourselves] or there are still 20 years to go before we reach certain parameters for the production of certain product groups, we need to act accordingly."
"[We need to] create joint ventures, as Alexey [Repik, head of Delovaya Rossiya] suggested. Well, we need to be flexible. [We need to] proceed exclusively from our national interests," the President said.