Russia won't rush with structural reforms: Prime Minister

Russia needs economic reforms but should not rush them through, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday, balancing reassuring words for business with promises to ease the economic pain for ordinary people. Many economists and investors argue that Russia's economy, now in its second year of recession, badly needs reforms to improve its business climate, reduce its dependence on volatile commodity prices and improve over-stretched government finances. That may require potentially unpopular measures, such as cutbacks in spending on pensions and the defence industry, which the Kremlin has been reluctant to implement.