[HIGHLIGHTS] The IMF said that Russia was surprised by the strength of economic growth under sanctions

IMF: Russia surprised by strength of economic growth in context of sanctions. Fund's first deputy managing director: Russian economy remains in the “territory of positive growth” Head of the Ministry of Economic Development: Analysts in the West are less and less aware of how things really are in the Russian economy.

The International Monetary Fund has revised its assessment of Russia's economic development towards improvement and predicted the country's GDP growth. The Russian economy is expected to grow by 2.5 percent this year.