MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - Andrei Illarionov, an economist and a former presidential adviser on economics, says an economic crisis is unlikely to hit Russia in the foreseeable future but believes the country is currently in an institutional crisis because of a reduction in the rights and civil liberties of Russian citizens.

Illarionov said his beliefs are based on the small likelihood that oil prices will fall and on what he called the correct macroeconomic policy of the Russian government.

"There are two common forecasts in the world - oil prices are going to fall and the Chinese economy is going to slow down. But I don't think there are any grounds to expect oil prices to drop below $70, $60 or even $50 per barrel. In this case, the Russian economy will continue to receive a gigantic gift from the global state of affairs," Illarionov said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.

"Of course, we aren't ruling out the possibility that a crisis could be caused by an inadequate economic policy, but for now this doesn't apply to these people (the Russian leadership). The quality of (Russia's) macroeconomic policy is quite high," he said.

At the same time, he said "there are serious grounds to say that there is a crisis - it is taking place during these very hours, days, weeks and months."

"If one looks at the level of civil rights and liberties and the level of personal violence, countries like ours can only be found in the sub-Sahara region. This is our crisis," he said.

Citing research, Illarionov said the scale of falsifications in the Russian presidential elections has been on the rise since the second round of the 1996 elections.

He said it is very important what steps President-elect Dmitry Medvedev takes to develop democracy in Russia.

"In this regard, it is extremely important how the new leader starts out. Remember, when Khrushchev came to power, he released all political prisoners. Gorbachev immediately returned (Russian academician Andrei) Sakharov from exile in (the Russian city of) Gorky and, after meeting him, freed the remaining political prisoners. Therefore, if Medvedev is interested in maintaining his image, there is a very simple way to prove this: free political prisoners," he said.

Illarionov said 72 people are currently behind bars in Russia for crimes with political motives.