Firn---thought you might like these economic press releases from Interfax today;


April 22, 2014 13:15 Govt will honor all social obligations despite economic problems - Medvedev
MOSCOW. April 22 (Interfax) - For all the economic difficulties, the Russian social sector will not be affected, and the government will honor all the social obligations, said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
"I want to state as follows: whatever happens around our country, whatever the difficulties our economy experiences, we shall fully honor all the social obligations we've assumed," Medvedev told the State Duma while presenting a government report.

13:13 RUSSIA TO MINIMIZE CONSEQUENCES OF POSSIBLE EU SANCTIONS BY TURNING TO OTHER MARKETS – MEDVEDEV

April 22, 2014 13:06 Blacklists swap will lead Russia, West into deadlock - Medvedev (Part 3)
MOSCOW. April 22 (Interfax) - The continuation of exchange of blacklists in the wake of the incorporation of Crimea into Russia will result in an absolute deadlock, said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
"Of course, we can continue swapping blacklists but I do not even consider it necessary to prove now that this is an absolute deadlock," he said while presenting a government report to the Duma on Tuesday.
Already Russians have experienced the restrictions, and not just in getting visas: foreign partners have removed certain Russian banks from international payment systems, the prime minister said.
"For us, it is an additional incentive to create a national payment system that would hardly depend on the international situation and operate smoothly on a nationwide scale," Medvedev said.

13:59 Russia must try to shift foreign trade to the ruble for ruble to become reserve currency – Medvedev

13:26 Russian GDP should grow in line with EU economies in 2014 - PM (Part 2)

14:02 Medvedev: 20%-40% of outflow was 'gray capital'