If preliminary figures are correct, Russia"s...

"According to a preliminary assessment, growth was over 3%," he told journalists, adding that the figure could change should the Economic Development Ministry revise the figures for the three first quarters of 2009. He gave no further details.

Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said Tuesday the available assessments of GDP growth in December and in the fourth quarter of 2009 (1% and 3.7% correspondingly) were false. He said that the indicators for the first three quarters and first 11 months of last year would be specified, which may lead to the figures decreasing.

According to the Federal Statistics Service, Russia"s GDP declined 7.9% in 2009.

MOSCOW, February 2 (RIA Novosti)