The Russian economy, which declined more than any major economy during the recession, now appears to have leveled off, according to government figures released Tuesday.

Russia’s economy all but skidded to a halt last winter because of its dependence on oil and other commodity exports as global demand dried up, its huge corporate debt before the credit bubble burst and capital flight, caused in part by the war in Georgia last summer.

The new figures, measuring gross domestic product, reflected the blow to the economy early this year while offering a positive outlook on recent developments.

Russia’s state statistics agency released two figures: one showing the economy had declined 10.9 percent in the second quarter compared with the period a year ago, and another showing it had grown 7.5 percent compared with the first quarter.

Together, the figures are good news for Russia, Yulia Tseplayeva, the chief economist for Russia and former Soviet states for Bank of America Securities, the former Merrill Lynch, said by telephone.

They indicate Russia’s economy declined 0.5 percent in the second quarter compared with the first quarter, if adjusted for typically seasonal differences in output, which are extreme in Russia because of the harsh winters. In other words, the economy was about flat.

“It is very likely that Russia has bottomed out and that recovery has started,” Ms. Tseplayeva said.

The figures released by the statistics agency, known as Goskomstat, were preliminary.

Over all, the recession has hit Russia hard. Unemployment is a mounting worry in one-factory towns in rust-belt regions of Siberia. The budget went into deficit and is likely to remain there for years. And car sales in July fell 58 percent compared with July 2008.

Still, Russia averted a potentially far more severe disaster, economists have said. It was aided by a $597.5 billion rainy day fund that was the third-largest foreign currency and gold reserve behind Japan and China. Also, oil prices bounced back.

While a positive indication, the second quarter G.D.P. showed just how much the economy contracted last winter. The decline of 10.9 percent compared with the period a year earlier was the worst in Russia since comparable recordkeeping began in 1995.

Most of the slowdown, however, occurred last fall and in the first quarter of this year, when economic output declined 9.8 percent on an annual basis, as oil prices tumbled from their summer peak, investors fled and companies defaulted on debt.

The World Bank has estimated that the Russian economy would contract 7.9 percent this year and not return to precrisis levels until at least 2012. Just before the crisis reached here, in the first quarter of 2008, Russia was growing at an annual rate of 8.7 percent.

The leveling off holds no obvious promise of growth for Russia because global commodity prices are unlikely to recover until the world economy recovers. Russia’s ministry of economy has projected the figure for the current quarter, when it is released, will show a modest recovery has begun. Russia’s finance minister has said growth for all of 2010 will not be more than 1 percent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/business/economy/12ruble.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=andrew%20kramer&st=cse