Russia to become one of five world's largest economies - Putin

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin believes that the main achievement of the Russian government is stabilization and the growth of the population in the country. "I believe that our main achievement is stabilization and the growth of the population of Russia. It exceeded 143 million people as of 2011. We did not let the crisis ruin the positive demographic trends," Putin stated during his annual report to the State Duma. According to him, the crisis became a colossal challenge, which was much larger and more dangerous than the crisis of 1998. "If we had failed to respond to it, we would have ruined our economy and the social sphere. We would've also cast doubts on the sovereignty and the geopolitical solvency of the country. We would've also buried all ideas of modernization and development," Putin stated. The head of the government and President-elect thanked Russian citizens for their "stamina, patience and confidence." Russia has managed to pass the test owing to "everyone's responsibility, social partnership and civil solidarity," he said. Vladimir Putin also said that in the beginning of the current year, Russia's GDP exceeded the pre-crisis level. "In the beginning of 2012, like we planned, the Russian GDP exceeded the pre-crisis level," the prime minister said. As of 2011, the GDP made up 41 trillion 421 billion rubles Putin also stated that Russia would soon become one of the world's five leading economies. "Russia will become one of the world's five largest economies during the upcoming two or three years," Putin said. However, he added, Russia still lags behind the most developed countries on the productivity of labor, i.e. the quality of economy - three or four times. According to Putin, one needs to concentrate on the strategic directions in Russia's development. "I formulated the priorities of our program during the election campaign. In my first presidential decree, I will outline the "road map" on all of those initiatives. Moreover, the work on them has practically begun," the prime minister said. Putin stressed out the need to concentrate on strategically important issues for the country - the ones connected with Russia's historical perspectives. He pointed out five priorities, having placed demography on the first place, Interfax reports. The second goal is connected with the arrangement of Russia's territory. First and foremost, it goes about the development of Siberia and the Far East. The head of the government stated that there would be a special department established to deal with the coordination and control of the development of the Far East and East Siberia. Creating jobs is the third goal. Another one is the need to create the new economy that could be capable of growing under the conditions of tough competition. To crown it all, Russia needs to strengthen its positions in the world. Integration in Eurasian space is the main priority at this point. "The idea of the new Eurasian integration has been getting more and more attractive. The reality of life and the experience of 20 years put everything in their places. It has become obvious that one can't handle today's challenges of global turbulence alone," Putin said.