Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Friday that the global financial crisis has yet to crest but there will be no catastrophe for the Russian economy.

"We are forced to conclude that the crisis is far from over and has not even reached its climax," Putin said at a meeting with leaders of the ruling United Russia party.

"Measures taken by the governments of the world's most developed economies bring no visible results," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying.

"This means that the situation could last for quite a long time," Putin said,

However, Putin assured the officials that the government would manage to cope with the consequences of the crisis.

"This will be a tough year, but no catastrophe will occur. We are able to keep the situation under control, and we will do so," Putin said.

Russia's economy has been battered by plummeting oil prices, dwindling foreign currency reserves and record capital flight amidst the biggest financial shock in decades.

A deputy economic minister forecast earlier this month that the country's economy would contract by 2.2 percent in 2009.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2009)