Russia managed to return the economy to growth despite sanctions and crises, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

"In previous years, we created a fairly good base for further development. Despite economic pressure, despite sanctions, despite the crises that shake the global economy, we still returned the economy to growth," Medvedev said.

At the same time, Medvedev noted that economic growth rates are "not at all high". "But all the same, development is no longer accompanied by accumulation of imbalances and external vulnerability," he added.

According to him, the state external debt has reached the next minimum, competitiveness of manufacturing industry is strengthening, import substitution is present in a number of segments, non-oil and gas exports are growing confidently, including through increasing reliability of the financial sector.

The current challenges are not only related to the problems of money flow, but also to the economy in general, which is affected by changes in global politics, trade, and the state of markets, he added.

"These changes are by no means always positive. In these conditions Russia should be brought to the top 5 of the world's largest economies, this goal is set in the presidential decree of May 2008. Finance, fiscal, and budgetary policies should help to achieve this goal," Medvedev said.