“Growth in Russia is expected to accelerate to 4.3% in 2021, as the economy is supported by an earlier recovery in domestic demand and higher energy prices,” the report says.
At the same time, the World Bank downgraded the forecast for Russia's economic growth in 2022 to 2.8% from 3.2% and for 2023 to 1.8% from 2.3%.
"The recovery is expected to slow to a nonetheless stable 2.8% in 2022 as demand stabilizes and industrial commodity prices decline ..." the report added.
As emphasized, the growth prospects of the Russian economy are influenced by the escalation of geopolitical tensions, including new US sanctions imposed in 2021, low vaccination rates and an increase in the Central Bank's key rate from record lows.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia's GDP reached the pre-crisis level in seven months of 2021.