Russian economic official sees recovery in 2H

Russia's economy is on its way to recovery and will pick up in the second half of the year, the deputy economic development minister was quoted as saying Tuesday by national news agencies.

Andrey Klepach, who came under fierce criticism of the Kremlin last fall for being too pessimistic in his forecasts, said Russia's economic output would rise 4 to 5 percent in the second half of the year compared to the disasterous first half.

Russia's economy shrank 9.8 percent in the first four months of the year compared with the year-earlier period and most forecasters expect it will shrink 6 to 8 percent over the entire year.

Russia's economy has been …