Medvedev: Crisis like in 2008 not in store for Russia

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is confident that Russia will manage to avoid an economic crisis like the one that broke out in 2008. “I am sure we will manage to avoid a crisis like the one in 2008-2009,” the prime minister said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Gazeta daily that will be published on Tuesday. “No need to store tinned meat, soap and matches with salt,” the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers quotes the prime minister as saying in the interview. Medvedev also gave his view about the current situation in the Russian economy. “As for a general economic situation I would not want to heat up emotions. All is more or less acceptable. It’s another matter that we need a somewhat different quality of growth - at least four to five percent a year,” he stressed. Reporters asked the prime minister about the future of social programs in the country. “There is no threat to social programs. The financing will not be scrapped,” he emphasized. Besides, Medvedev focused on government decisions as concerns private entrepreneurs. “Certain decision of the government concerning small businesses must be corrected,” he admitted. “The whole country must not be oriented towards civil servantship,” he stressed. The prime minister also touched upon a much talked-of issue of inaccuracy of devices testing drivers’ blood alcohol level. “My colleagues have carried out awful experiments, taking kefir, medicines and kvass. And then exhaled into the breathalizer. Terrible!” he joked.