Putin called sanctions an incentive for the development of a sovereign economy

Western sanctions against Russia are becoming an incentive to build an economy that has full sovereignty, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects.

“Sanction restrictions have posed many difficult tasks for our country <...> But, on the other hand, it opens up new opportunities, is an incentive to build an economy that has full, and not partial, technological, industrial, personnel and scientific sovereignty,” the head of state said (quote according to TASS).

The President called for leadership in such areas as artificial intelligence, new industrial technologies, and data transmission.

Putin stressed that despite pressure from the West, Russia will continue its development. “We will definitely become stronger, implement qualitatively new projects,” the president said during the meeting (quote according to RIA Novosti). According to him, Russia, “relying, first of all, on its own reserves and resources, will certainly go only forward.”

In September, Putin at a meeting on economic issues declaredthat the dynamics of key economic indicators suggests that the Russian economy is gradually stabilizing and entering a growth trajectory.

The head of state noted that in August lending to the economy, the real sector and the population from banks revived. “I consider the overall stable situation in the labor market to be a very important, significant achievement of the government. Even more than stable: the unemployment rate is at historical lows – in May-July it was only 3.9%,” Putin added.