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In 2014, the situation with the volume of regional and municipal budgets changed considerably towards a substantial increase in debt.

At the Gaidar Forum 2015 Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov noted the need to cut budget spending by 10%. Moreover, he believes that 10 percent may not be sufficient.

The World Bank Global Economic Prospects has been released today. It contains a downgraded forecast for economic contraction rates in Russia in 2015.

Today, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation published Russia's economic results of November 2014; according to them, Russia's GDP growth rates amounted to -0.5% on the respective period of the previous year.

In December, amid a dramatic drop in global prices on oil Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF noted that falling oil prices would have a favorable effect on the global economy.

Today, during the big press-conference President V. Putin named external factors (in particular, a drop in global oil prices) behind the crisis phenomena in Russia in conditions of insufficient diversification of the Russian economy.

Yesterday the Bank of Russia published the December 2014 issue of its Monetary Policy Report, which contains a revised version of the 'stress scenario' for the development of Russia's economy, previously developed by the Bank's experts.

Last week, Fitch Ratings - a global rating agency - released to the mass media its forecast of the growth rate of Russia's national economy in 2015.

Today, the UNO released its Report World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015, where it is stated that in 2015 Russian economy will be faced with stagnation, while its growth rate is expected to be at the level of 0.2%. The UNO points to the current tense geopolitical situation as the main cause of such a pessimistic forecast.

At the Bank of Russia Board of Directors' meeting on 11 December 2014, it was decided that the key interest rate should be raised dramatically - by 100 basis points to 10.5%. As stated in the Bank of Russia's information notice, the toughening monetary policy is aimed at playing down the inflation and depreciation expectations, which have been becoming increasingly stronger over the last few weeks.

In the framework of his annual Address to the Federal Assembly, RF President Vladimir Putin set the goal of developing new technologies and competitive goods in Russia, as well as giving the country's industry a more solid foundation

On 3 December, the text of Federal Law, of 1 December 2014, No 384-FZ 'On the Federal Budget for 2015 and the Planning Period 2016-2017' was published on the Official Government Internet-Portal of Legal Information and on the website of the RF Ministry of Finance. Two days later, on 5 December, an annex to that law, titled 'The Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget' , was published on the website of the RF Ministry of Finance.

In the course of his speech delivered at the Public Chamber on 8 December 2014, German Gref noted that irrespective of external conditions (primarily the economic sanctions introduced against Russia), the Russian economy could be expected to show negative growth in 2015, or zero growth at best.

In his annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, delivered on 4 December 2014, Vladimir Putin asked the deputies 'not to delay their review of the law on priority development areas (PDA)'.

In his annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, Vladimir Putin declared that the Russian authorities would take new steps towards 'de-offshorization' of the country's economy, including the launch of a full amnesty to capital returning to Russia.

In his annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, RF President Vladimir Putin once again emphasized the crucial importance of import substitution as a means of increasing the competitive capacity of the Russian economy.