The Russian Economic Development Ministry now forecasts that GDP will decline 0.8% in 2015 compared with GDP growth of 1.2% contained in the forecast prepared in September, Deputy Economic Development Minister Alexei Vedev said at a briefing on Tuesday.

The main cause for the significant change in the forecast is the reduction in the assumed average price of Urals crude oil next year to $80 per barrel from $100 previously.

The earlier forecast also assumed that Western sanctions against Russia would be lifted by mid-2015. The latest forecast assumes the sanctions will remain in place throughout next year.