Moiseyev criticizes aid requests from companies that gain from import limits, weak ruble
MOSCOW. Nov 26 (Interfax) - Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev criticized companies that have benefited from current import restrictions and ruble weakening for requesting assistance from the federal budget.
"Honestly, not just as a government official, but as an economist, it is a surprising situation when many sectors of the Russian economy have received the twin stimulus from the serious change in the ruble exchange rate and the limitations on importation of a host of products, and yet we hear from them that 'we are ready to begin production, but give us budget money," Moiseyev said at the Russian Financial Forum organized by Vedomosti newspaper.
Before the ruble weakened, before the import restrictions were imposed, these sectors nonetheless operated, Moiseyev said, adding: "Frankly, it looks pretty strange."