Russia's Economy Ministry: 'We Will Not Collapse!'

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Alexei Ulyukayev

REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev.

The Russian Economy Ministry just tweeted a bizarre quote from Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev. On its official account on Twitter the ministry posted a picture of the minister alongside a quote saying - "We will not collapse!".

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Here's the tweet:

The move is highly unusual from a government ministry. It comes on the back of sharp falls in the value of the rouble and an announcement this morning that Russia is having to reduce expected government revenues from oil after OPEC declined to cut production on Thursday.

Oil and gas sales account for around 10% of Russia's GDP and the country still relies on the sector to fund around 50% of its federal budget. Lower oil prices could put pressure on the country's finances, while falls in the rouble threaten to hit Russia's corporate sector, which is due to make $35 billion of foreign-debt repayments in December.