Aug 12. Events in South Ossetia cannot alter the fundamental indicators of the Russian economy, vice PM and finance minister Alexey Kudrin said Monday. "The ruble is within a reliable range that is controlled by the Central Bank of Russia. And while events themselves clearly do have an impact, they cannot substantially change either the country's fundamental indicators or its long-term policy" – he said. Kudrin pointed out that the ruble exchange rate depends on cash inflows and outflows, and also the balance of trade. According to him, the trade balance is the basis for the exchange rate, and it is formed on the back of the country's export and import policies. Kudrin noted that Russia's export policy is linked with crude prices which remain at record highs. "The trade balance is now stronger than usual and is even higher than in the previous year owing to red hot oil prices, so the country's fundamentals from the standpoint of the ruble's exchange rate are fairly stable" – the finance minister said. "Capital movements which took place Friday, a sell-off and an outflow of several billion dollars, today's early trading due to the market's downturn, funds withdrawn by investment funds are not considerable fluctuations in terms of fundamentals" – Kudrin claims.