Mr Zhukov said that the Russian economy ranks seventh in the world and will be among the world's top five economies by 2020. "The resources accumulated by Russia in the last eight years have allowed it to overcome the world financial crisis rather smoothly, and to retain high and steady rates of economic growth," he said.

During the last four months, GDP grew by 8.3%, industry by about 7%, and investment by 20.3%

Mr Zhukov noted that "we have high growth rates and positive forecasts for the future", whereas the economy is stagnating in the rest of the world.

He thinks that the innovations-based economic development will allow Russia to maintain a GDP growth level of about 6% per year for years to come. "This is a conservative, albeit realistic, forecast," he summed up.