Chairman of Sberbank of Russia German Gref expects the Russian economy to grow rapidly.

“I think that Russia has a unique opportunity for rapid growth in the middle and long term range,” Gref said at a Troika Dialog forum.

Russia’s main problems now are how to properly concentrate government efforts and state modernization, Gref said. “This is question number one. We need to focus state involvement in the economy, increase the state’s effectiveness in using its functions,” he said. Russia has a number of advantages, he said, including the great potential for increased productivity, rising demand for goods, and “brains.” Russia has the potential to produce all the goods it consumes, he added.

As to Russia’s opportunities for increasing productivity, Gref said, “We have on average enormous reserves from the standpoint of effectiveness in corporate management of boosting worker productivity. We could easily double or triple worker productivity at corporations in five to eight years and promote economic growth by doing so,” he said.

Russia has another important advantage for economic growth, Gref said. “Russia, honestly speaking, does not especially need to think about a new platform [for growth]. We have unique growth opportunities, and we need to increase productivity and modernize everywhere,” he said. The government needs to redistribute its investments to such sectors as infrastructure, education, and medicine, he said, as these areas will be much in demand in the next coming years.