MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Russia’s political system and economic model have withstood the sanctions and 2023 should be a year of progress, despite remaining problems, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on Telegram on Thursday.

The politician recalled that the United States and the European Union had anticipated that the Russian economy would collapse in 2022, with "inflation at over 100%, the dollar rate of 200 rubles and a 25% drop in the GDP, but these plans never came true." "Despite the unprecedented pressure and the introduction of more than 13,000 sanctions against our country, the political system built by our president and the economic model have survived and proved effective," Volodin said.

"We are getting stronger by overcoming challenges, and the next year should be a year of progress," the speaker of the lower house of Russia's parliament maintained.

According to him, the country has been meeting all commitments to its citizens in the social sphere, with unemployment at a historical low of 3.75%. "The inflation rate is 12.19% in Russia, while in Poland it is 16.1%, in the Czech Republic 17.2%, in Estonia and Lithuania 21.4%, in Latvia 21.7%, and in Hungary 23.1%," he added. According to him, 2022 was the best for road construction, and the country harvested a record 150 million metric tons of grain.

"But the achievements should not make us sit back and relax. There are still lots of problems and they to be solved," Volodin concluded.