Russian state development bank VEB has fired its chief economist over remarks in which he said the country was falling behind the West and China and suffering mounting economic damage from the war in Ukraine, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Andrei Klepach, one of Russia's most prominent macroeconomists, made the remarks to a financial forum in May but they were reported in Russian media only last week.
"We are falling behind. We are losing both the technological and economic competition in the world. And we are losing it not only to China and the United States, in some ways we are losing it to Ukraine too," he said, adding that this was due to Kyiv receiving financial support from the West.
"We will not win the competition in this war of attrition. We have the illusion that everything there (in Ukraine) will collapse. It has not collapsed and will not collapse. Our costs are mounting," he said, predicting a social crisis.
The speech, which is published on the website of the Nikitsky Club - a forum of economists, academics and government officials - marked a rare public critique by a senior figure at a state institution of the costs of continuing the war that Moscow launched in 2022. Klepach has held several roles at economic institutions and worked at the economy ministry for 10 years before joining VEB.
VEB, which finances state projects, confirmed in a written response that Klepach was no longer its chief economist, but did not say why. Klepach, who was appointed to the role in 2014, also confirmed his dismissal to Reuters.
