Andrei Klepach, chief economist at Russian state development bank VEB, has been dismissed from his post over comments that Russia is lagging behind China and the West due to the conflict in Ukraine, according to a report from Reuters which cited two sources familiar with the matter.

Klepach stated that increasing economic damage was negatively affecting the Russian economy at a financial forum which took place in May. According to Reuters, these were only reported by Russian media last week.

The macroeconomist pointed out that Ukraine is being given financial help from the West.

“We are falling behind. We are losing both the technological and economic competition in the world. And we are losing it not only to China and the United States, in some ways we are losing it to Ukraine too,” he said in his speech.

“We will not win the competition in this war of attrition. We have the illusion that everything ⁠there (in Ukraine) will collapse. It has not collapsed and will not collapse. Our costs are mounting.”

Reuters said the speech was published on the website of the Nikitsky Club, which consists of economists, academics, and government officials, adding that it marked a “rare public critique” by a senior figure at a state institution about the conflict.

VEB confirmed to Reuters that Klepach was no longer working as its chief economist but did not disclose why.

Klepach had worked at the bank since 2014. Prior to this Klepach was a deputy economics minister of Russia. He also worked as the director of macroeconomic forecasting department of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation since 2004.

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