Russian Deputy PM also noted high costs on delivery of products that have appeared as the transport element extended.

Retail prices have been stable thus far but there has been a rise in sales on the exchange, the regulator said.

Mikhail Mishustin believes that "engineering industry for the fuel and energy complex has a significant potential".

The Finance Ministry said earlier that it would allocate 40.4 bln rubles for sale of foreign currency from May 10, 2023 to June 6, 2023, with daily foreign currency sales equaling 2 bln rubles.

After the project reaches its full capacity, Russian pipeline gas supplies to China will increase by 10 bln cubic meters.

According to the Ministry of Finance, this is 33.1% of planned budget assignments.

Non-oil and gas revenues totaled $72.2 bln and increased by 5% year-on-year in the reporting period.

"If compared to the first quarter of last year, our overall results are not worse [this year]," Ruslan Davydov said.

Since the start of the year, 517,100 metric tons of vegetables and other crops have been grown in protected ground.

According to Rosstat, the average wage in the Russian Federation in February 2023 is 65,904 rubles.