​Moscow, June 16 (IANS) Russia's economic recession is expected to end this year, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday.

"The low point of recession has passed, and there is a rapid economic recovery," Ulyukayev said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that started earlier in the

day.

He predicted that the Russian economy would start growing from the third quarter this year.

He also estimated the country's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 1 per cent in annual terms in the first five months of 2016.

Official statistics for the first five months are not yet available.

The first quarter of 2016 saw a 1.2 per cent GDP decline year-on-year, according to Russia's Federal State Statistics Service.

The base forecast of the Economic Development Ministry put the GDP decline at 0.3 per cent in the full year of 2016. ​