Russia may face a technical recession in the second and third quarters, admits a government official.

      This could upset the official outlook set at 1.1 percent by the Economic Development Ministry.

      According to Maksim Oreshkin, head of the long-term strategic planning department of the Finance Ministry, 1Q GDP saw a 0.5 percent decrease against the previous quarter. Also, annual inflation is expected to drop below six percent.

      Russia’s economy has been stagnating for several years now, and the downward trend intensified after the US and the EU introduced sanctions against Moscow and cut ties following Russia’s absorption of Crimea.

      Earlier, Russia-IC reported that the Russian government is mulling the establishment of the national credit rating agency and the payment and settlement system to break the monopoly of the big troika amid threats of further sanctions coming from the West.

      First vice-premier Igor Shuvalov is expected to hold a session on this issue later this week, says Kommersant.

      The new agency is poised to compete with Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's which, according to the government, are skewed against Russia. In March 2014, they changed Russia’s outlook from stable to negative, citing possible sanctions over Russia’s absorption of Crimea. VTB Group canceled a contract with Fitch due to ‘unprofessional actions by the agency’.