Putin says Russia can beat crisis

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This year will be "very difficult" for the Russian economy, but the country will come out of the downturn, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said.

He told the state Duma, or lower house, that a 3tn rouble ($90bn; £60bn) package of aid measures would help Russia survive the economic crisis.

"What we can definitely and must say is that Russia will overcome the crisis," Mr Putin said.

He said Russia would retain its place as one of the world's bigger economies.

"To achieve this, we must all work in a well-coordinated manner, as one team," Mr Putin said.

"Our actions must be not fussy, but prompt, responsible and well-balanced. They should be genuinely effective for both people and the economy."

His comments follow those of Igor Shuvalov, the first deputy prime minister, who last week said Russia could return to positive economic growth by the end of the year.

'Possibility of control'

Russia's $1.7tn economy has been hit after 10 years of growth during which its oil, gas and metals were in global demand.

With the economic slump, demand and prices for these products has fallen.

It has been hit especially hard by the financial crisis and more than a million people have lost their jobs since December.

The stock markets ended 2008 70% below the record highs they had reached last May.

Last month, the World Bank predicted Russia's economy will shrink by 4.5% this year.

The bank said that Russia, a major oil producer, would be particularly hard hit by falling energy prices.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Putin said he would examine the possibility of establishing internal control of prices of oil and gas within the country.

"We should take a closer look at the possibility of control, but at the same time we must do so in a way that would not harm the profitability of Russian oil and gas companies," he said.

"Closing our economy completely to the effects of the external market will be impossible," he added.

And he said the country's banking system was now out of trouble after coming close to disaster.

"The threat of a collapse of the banking system has receded," Mr Putin said.

"But it was quite real, it was literally on the edge."