Russian Deputy Prime Minister said that hydrocarbons exports will still remain the core of the Russian economy, but it is strategically more important for the country to become self-sufficient in food production and concentrate on technologies development.

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KRASNOYARSK (Sputnik)Hydrocarbons exports will still remain the core of the Russian economy, but it is strategically more important for the country to become self-sufficient in food production and concentrate on technologies development, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said.

"The hydrocarbons will remain the core of our economy in the future as well. It is foolish to renounce our natural wealth, however, at the same thing, two other riches are much more serious — our land and our people. [The territory is] an opportunity to provide food, whereas the people are an opportunity to define technological development," Dvorkovich told reporters on the sidelines of the Krasnoyarsk economic forum on Friday.

These two riches are strategically more importantly for Russia, he stressed.

The Russian economy has experienced a slowdown caused by an oversupply in the global crude oil market and, to a lesser extent, by Western sanctions that have been imposed over Moscow’s alleged role in the internal Ukrainian conflict.

According to the Russian Central Bank, the dependence of the Russian economy and the national currency's exchange rate on oil prices is gradually decreasing, however, there is a need to further diversify the country’s economy.