* GDP forecasts revised up from last month
* At least one more rate cut this year, more in 2010
* Rouble seen weakening very slightly over next 12 months
By Toni Vorobyova
MOSCOW, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Economists have turned more upbeat on Russia's prospects of returning to solid growth after its first recession in a decade, thanks to interest rate cuts and a price rally of key export oil, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.
Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) will contract 7.7 percent this year, before returning to growth of 3.1 percent in 2010, according to median forecasts in a poll of 15 economists.
That is more upbeat than both official views and the forecasts from last month's poll.
Since then, data showed that Russia's economy eked out seasonally-adjusted quarterly growth in July-September as unemployment continued to fall.
"Activity in Russia has picked up sizeably over the last couple of months," said Ivan Tchakarov at Nomura in London.
"Concerns that the pick-up may be not be sustained have been tempered by much better-than-expected oil prices."
The recovery has been accompanied by 350 basis points of cuts in the benchmark refinancing rate, with the central bank seeking to encourage lending to the real economy.
The rate cuts have been facilitated by more benign price pressures, with inflation seen at 9.6 percent this year and just 8.5 percent in 2010 -- its lowest in over a decade.
However this year's forecast implies that inflation will pick up in the final months from zero in August-October. As such, the pace of rate cuts was also seen slowing down.
"We expect inflation to start picking up in November and December, which would limit the scope for further rate cuts," said Vladimir Tikhomirov, economist at Uralsib, forecasting inflation at 0.1-0.3 in those months.
The poll showed a final 25 basis point rate cut this year from the current 9.50 percent, followed by two more such steps in the first half of 2010.
Inflation, in turn, has been tamed by the 8 percent rally in the rouble versus a euro-dollar basket over the last two months . The currency was seen easing very slightly over the next 12 months to 36.22 per basket from 35.36 currently.
In year-on-year terms GDP growth was seen resuming from the first quarter of 2010. But next year's performance would still be less than half as a strong the 7.3 percent growth Russia averaged during the oil-fuelled boom years of 2003-2007.
-- For a TABLE of poll results see (Editing by Andy Bruce)