Russia quitting oil dependency – Putin

The Russian budget has reduced its dependency on oil revenues, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. 

Addressing the forum, the president reminded the audience that the country has long strived to diversify its income sources and reduce the share of exports of natural resources such as oil and gas in its budget revenue.

“We’ve always wondered when Russia is going to finally reduce its dependency on oil? Here, the trend is gradually gaining momentum,” the president said.

In May, budget revenues not related to the export of gas and oil grew by 28.5%, Putin noted, attributing the growth to further development of the trade and services sectors.

At the same time, Putin pointed out that Russia’s income from oil and gas exports is growing and has exceeded expectations. Since Western nations effectively banned its oil and gas, Russia has redirected its exports to customers such as India and China.

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