Putin says war with Ukraine has been good for Russian economy

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has said that the past year, when Russia invaded Ukraine and became the world champion in the number of sanctions imposed, has been good for Russia and its economy.

Source. This was reported by moscowtimes.eu with reference to RIA Novosti and TASS.

"Despite certain costs, I think that last year was only beneficial, given that we have become much more sovereign and independent," Putin said at a meeting with employees of an aircraft factory in Ulan-Ude.

According to Putin, he was afraid that the Russian economy might not be able to withstand and collapse. This, according to Putin, was what the western companies that left Russia were counting on.

But "nothing of the sort happened," the dictator said. Participants in economic activity in Russia, he said, "have grown and strengthened," and the economy sank by only 2.1% at the end of the year, while Ukraine's GDP fell by 40%, he said, citing Rosstat data.

The unemployment rate fell to a historic low of 3.6%, according to Rosstat, and real incomes lost only 1%, less than during the pandemic crisis.

Russian official statistics do paint a rosy picture of the economy, but they should not be trusted, said Agathe Demarais, head of forecasting at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Russia has made statistics a central part of its information warfare. And its goal is to prove that sanctions do not work and thereby weaken those who believe that they are a key tool to stop and deter Russian aggression against Ukraine," the analyst said.

There is no way to verify Rosstat's data at the moment, Demarais emphasizes.

Background. As a reminder, the IMF predicts "devastating" consequences for the Russian economy after 2023.