Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged on Thursday that national GDP would return to pre-crisis levels by the first half of 2012.
"A number of experts have said that GDP will reach pre-crisis levels by the end of 2012, and other experts say it will happen by the end of 2011," Putin said during his annual televised Q&A session. "I believe, that the truth, as usual, lies somewhere in the middle."
Putin described this year's GDP growth of 3.8 percent as "satisfactory." Before the crisis, Russia's GDP growth averaged 7 percent.
MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti)
