“We can say that the situation is now somewhat better than we predicted in September.

In September, we expected a 5% decline in the Russian economy, and now we expect a 4% decline, "RIA Novosti quotes the expert.

According to him, this happened mainly due to a number of key sectors: financial, agro-industrial complex, telecommunications, government.

In addition, news on the OPEC + agreements contributed to the stabilization of oil prices, he added.

As for the forecasts for Russia for future years, the World Bank expects growth by 2.6% in 2021, and acceleration to 3% in 2022. 

Earlier, the International Energy Agency downgraded the forecast for oil demand in 2020 and 2021, explaining this by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the decline in the consumption of jet fuel in the world.