Russia threatens “total economic isolation”

Berlin The Russian economy is shrinking significantly. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by four percent in the second quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous year. According to calculations by Bloomberg Economics, GDP has thus fallen back to the level of 2018. The months of April through June were the first full quarter after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and after Western countries imposed tough economic sanctions on Russia.

The Russian head of state Vladimir Putin has recently repeatedly claimed that the sanctions could not harm his country. The GDP figures for the second quarter published by the Russian statistics agency Rosstat on Friday evening may have surprised many economists positively. But on the one hand, doubts about the veracity of official Russian data are increasing. On the other hand, renowned economic experts in Russia are increasingly warning of a long-lasting recession.