Russian finance minister sees economy contracting 2.5 percent in 2015

Participants dressed as white bears saw an oversized replica of a one Russian rouble coin as they stage a performance during a rally near the White House (R), the headquarters of the federal government, in Moscow, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Thursday that his ministry predicted the economy would contract by 2.5 percent this year, according to comments posted on the Finance Ministry's official Twitter account. Siluanov said the peak of the economic contraction would be in the third quarter of this year, the post showed. (Reporting by Alexander Winning, editing by Jason Bush)