“After the annexation of Crimea, the return of Crimea to our country, sanctions followed. Naturally, this also hit the economy quite painfully, and we had to not only set up work amid very difficult sanctions, and even crisis conditions … the government had to tackle the most important topic that it had never dealt with before – I mean import substitution,” Medvedev said.

Ex-Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev in an interview with the Channel One said that the global sanctions against Russia following the annexation of Crimea “hit the economy painfully.” This was reported by Interfax.

“After the annexation of Crimea, the return of Crimea to our country, sanctions followed. Naturally, this also hit the economy quite painfully, and we had to not only set up work amid very difficult sanctions, and even crisis conditions … the government had to tackle the most important topic that it had never dealt with before – I mean import substitution. Because a number of goods were cut off from our country,” Medvedev said.

We recall, on January 15, the Russian government resigned.

Vladimir Putin has proposed changes to Russia’s constitution that would limit the power of a potential successor if he steps down in 2024, indicating he may occupy a beefed-up role as Russia’s prime minister or in the government’s state council.

In a televised speech before senior officials, Putin suggested amending Russia’s constitution to limit a future president to two terms in office – he has served four – tightening residency requirements for presidential candidates, and letting parliament choose candidates for prime minister and the cabinet, in effect weakening the presidency.

Shortly after the speech, Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev said that Russia’s government would resign in full, allowing Putin to appoint new ministers as he embarks on a sweeping reshuffle of Russia’s leadership. Medvedev, who also announced his intention to step down, would be appointed to a new position as the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, which is headed by Putin.

That would allow Putin to appoint a new prime minister, potentially signalling whom he favours as a potential successor. It is not clear when the new prime minister will be named, and Putin has asked the current government to stay on until new ministers have been chosen.

Putin presented his amendments to the constitution as a significant change to Russia’s governing document, and called for the first nationwide referendum since 1993 to confirm them. An elections official said within an hour of Putin’s speech that a referendum could be prepared as soon as the proposals to amend the constitution were formalised

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