In his annual address to parliament on April 21, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev reported that gross domestic product (GDP) had declined 2 percent in the first quarter. Medvedev assured the Russian people that his economic team had everything under control, that the recession would be mild, and that growth would resume in 2016.
By May 21, things looked less rosy. The finance ministry reported that the first quarter decline was between 3.5 and 3.7 percent. A week later, Russia’s state development bank, VEB, reported Russia’s first-quarter GDP down 4.3 percent. VEB’s chief economist framed the glum news as follows: “The accelerating fall in GDP in April indicates that the crisis still hasn’t passed its lowest point,” meaning that things will get worse before they get better.
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