Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said the Sochi Winter Olympics increased trust in Russia among potential foreign partners, which could boost the local economy.
The Games, which ended on Sunday, were preceded by a glut of Western media reports pointing to corruption, environmental violations and frantic last-minute preparations. But President Vladimir Putin said he thought the media coverage of the Olympics themselves was positive.
"The Russian economy will not be OK without a favorable external environment," Dvorkovich said at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum Friday, RIA Novosti reported. "The Olympics … created an atmosphere of trust in what is going on in Russia, trust toward people living in Russia, and it proved that we are not only able of promising, but also able to fulfill promises and achieve tangible results."
Dvorkovich called for building better ties, on the heels of the Games, with Russia's partners in the customs union — Belarus and Kazakhstan — and European countries and the U.S.
