Russia 'humiliated' by primitive economy

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has criticized the country's raw-material based economy and urged a speedy modernization of the 'whole' system.

Medvedev scolded the Soviet era economic and governance policies and pledged to overhaul the country's political and financial institutions which, he stated, have been built on a primitive infrastructure.

The Russian leader who was delivering his annual state of the union address before the country's economic and political elite at the presidential palace at the Kremlin on Thursday, pledged to fight corruption, deal with "unprincipled" officers in law enforcement and called for a change in the country's foreign policy agenda.

He also hinted at the possibility of liberalism without resorting to chaos and instability in Russia's polity, noting, "Instead of the archaic society, in which the leaders think and make decisions for everyone, we will be a country of intelligent, free and responsible people."

In the long Thursday speech, Medvedev slammed the country's dependence on oil and natural gas revenues and branded the 'primitive' economic model of raw material exports as "humiliating" for the nation.

"The nation's prestige and welfare can't depend forever on the achievements of the past," he said, urging a swift modernization and 'disciplined democratization' of the system.

He also called for an increase in foreign investment and a complete overhaul of the socialist era military and civilian programs and said "We are interested in the flow of capital, new technologies and modern ideas."

Russia is the world's largest non-OPEC producer of oil and natural gas and has suffered from the latest global economic downturn despite its early exit from the economic recession.