MOSCOW, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Britain's exit from the European Union (Brexit), which was announced earlier in the day, will not have a strong impact on Russia, Russian officials said Friday.
"For Russia, this means a drop of oil prices, weakening of the ruble and increased volatility of the financial markets in the first place,"the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov as saying.
But the minister believed this volatility will be much lower than what the Russian economy has already experienced.
"The impact of this event will be limited," Siluanov said, adding that the Russian economic policy should get prepared for negative scenarios for the world economy and resort to "conservative methods of planning."
As Brexit would bring certain disorganization and disintegration in the EU and intensify the bloc's internal problems, it is possible that Russia's interaction with the EU will be slightly damaged, said Konstantin Kosachev, head of the International Committee of the Russian Federation Council, or upper parliament house,
In response to the outcome of the Brexit vote, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is interested in the EU's remaining as a major economic force, prosperous and predictable, considering the union is a very important trade and investment partner to Russia.
The Kremlin also expected better relations with Britain in the new reality, Peskov said, adding that there is no direct link between Brexit and the prospect of lifting sanctions on Russia.
Following Brexit, Russia's ruble-denominated MICEX index fell by 3.5 percent, while the U.S. dollar-denominated RTS index dropped by 2.9 percent at the Friday opening trade on the Moscow Exchange.
Ordinary shares of Russia's largest lender Sberbank plunged by 5.2 percent at the opening trade to 130.84 rubles (1.98 U.S. dollars) per share, with shares of top oil producer Rosneft dropping by 5.7 percent to 328 rubles (4.97 dollars) per share and gas giant Gazprom by 2.8 percent to 140.22 rubles.
The dollar exchange rate was up 2.15 rubles (3.2 cents) to 66 at the opening bell, while the euro dipped slightly to 72.71 rubles (1.10 dollars) and the British pound plunged 4.2 percent to 90.96 rubles (1.38 dollars).
Fluctuation in the Russian market is part of the global plunge in the financial market over fears that the quit will hit economy and social stability in Britain.
"The reaction of global markets on the Brexit referendum results has been expected and presents no direct risks to Russia," Russia's central bank said in a press service.
The bank promised close monitoring of the situation and use of necessary tools to operate under the conditions of volatile markets.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the Russian government would analyze the Brexit consequences, as volatility of commodity and stock markets becomes much higher as a result.
