Putin: Russian economy stable despite attempts to disrupt energy sector

President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that the Russian economy remained resilient despite "external attempts to destabilize the fuel and energy sector."

Putin said at a meeting on economic issues in Moscow that recent difficulties in the energy market were temporary and would not affect the broader economy.

Russia's economy expanded 0.3% in May from a year earlier, citing preliminary estimates by the Ministry of Economic Development, according to Putin.

“The state of the domestic economy and its key sectors is stable. The difficulties being created for us in the fuel market are, of course, temporary and are not capable of influencing the overall economic dynamics," said Putin.

He said GDP grew in the first five months of this year by 0.2%

Putin said domestic demand from the government, businesses and households remained one of the main drivers of growth.

He said public finances remained stable, noting that the federal budget posted a surplus of 196 billion rubles ($2.5 billion) in June, supported by growth in oil-and-gas and non-oil-and-gas revenues.

Putin pointed to persistent regional budget deficits and ordered a new extension of loan repayments.

He reiterated that launching a new investment cycle and accelerating structural changes in the economy remained among the government's key priorities, adding that additional measures would be discussed separately and again at a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects in August.