In his April address to the Russian parliament, Vladimir Putin pledged to improve the country's low investment profile and encourage global companies to cooperate with Russia. Despite his promise to shake up the legal system, capital outflow from Russia in 2011 remained high at $84 billion, which is twice more than the 2010 figures. The poor investment climate and corruption are usually named to be the main reasons for the low investment attractiveness of Russia.
Nevertheless Russia's GDP in 2011 increased by over 4% and unemployment went down to pre- pre- 2008 crisis levels. Inflation remains at a record low level at 3.7%, compared to 6.1% in 2011. This might be affected however by the higher forecast rates for oil in which have risen from $100 to $115 per barrel in 2012. The Ministry of Economic Development noted that Russia needs oil prices to be at $117 to meet its budget obligations in 2012.