Ukraine crisis could hit Russian GDP

The Russian economy may see zero growth this year because of the Ukraine crisis, Russia's finance minister has admitted. The minister, Anton Siluanov, warned the country's economy faced "the most difficult conditions since the 2008 crisis", Russian news agencies said. Mr Siluanov said Russia had already seen capital flight of $63 billion in the first three months of 2014. Russia's annexation of Crimea is also set to increase state spending. Mr Siluanov told a government meeting: "GDP growth is estimated as rather low, 0.5%. Perhaps it will be around zero." He added that money was leaving the country because of geopolitical instability - understood to mean Russia's involvement in the Ukraine crisis and increased pressure in eastern Ukraine. The capital flight, according to Mr Siluanov, was the result of the mass conversion of roubles into foreign currencies, according to a news agency.