Industrial Growth in the First Quarter of the Year Made Six Percent

The results of the country's economic development in the first quarter of 2003 were discussed on Tuesday at a conference which was held by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov with vice-premiers and key ministers.

The press and information department reported that at that conference the ministers discussed in detail the indices of industrial production, the growth of which in the first quarter of 2003 amounted to six percent.

Positive signs of the growth were reported not only in the traditional, producing industries, but also in the processing sectors of the economy.

According to the State Statistics Committee's data, which were cited at the conference, in the first quarter of 2003, in comparison with the first quarter of 2002, the production growth in the machine-building industry amounted to four percent, in the chemical industry - to 4.9 percent, in non-ferrous metallurgy - to 9.5 percent, in the building materials industry - to 3.5 percent, in the food industry - to 3.7 percent, in the medical industry - to 10.7 percent, and in the energy sector - to 8.6 percent.

Apart from that, in February, this year, a 11.6 percent growth was registered in the machine-building industry and in metal working, 6.9 percent - in the building materials industry, 10.4 percent - in the food industry, and 5.3 percent - in the medical industry.

At the same time, it was pointed out that in some industries the production dropped in the first quarter of this year in comparison with the first quarter of 2002.