TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted for the first time that his country is prepared to face slump oil prices, as a response to British Prime Minister David Cameron’s statement as saying that Europe would have no choice but to escalate sanctions if Putin did not abide by previous agreements to respect Ukraine’s independence.
Putin was speaking before a bilateral meeting with Cameron on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brisbane, claiming that Russia has the reserves to withstand a collapse in oil revenue.
“We are considering all the scenarios including the so-called catastrophic fall of prices for energy resources, which is entirely possible and we admit it,” Putin said as reported by The Guardian on Friday, November 14, 2014.
Putin claimed that about 300,000 German workers could lose their jobs in agriculture if Russia stopped importing agricultural products from Germany, while Russian central bank forecasted that the Russia would have zero growth next year since half of Russia total revenue comes from oil and natural gas taxes.
FAIZ NASHRILLAH | THE GUARDIAN