Tomorrow at noon the Rossiya and Vesti television networks as well as radio stations Mayak and Radio Rossii will broadcast live the special programme "A conversation with Vladimir Putin Continued." Experts and potential participants in the annual live broadcast think people expect Putin to give a signal to bureaucrats, compel them to do something or pound a fist on the table depending on how urgent a problem is. Cities with pressing issues were chosen for the eighth programme. Live broadcasts will be conducted from eight cities, including Sayanogorsk, Pikalyovo and Togliatti, according to preliminary information.
The studio was again organised in Gostiny Dvor and those who are invited there will also have an opportunity to ask a question. However, the main attention will be paid to the urgent issues of the past year. The accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydro-electric power station was the worst disaster. A live broadcast will be conducted from the power house of the Sayano-Shushenskaya power station.
Mikhail Grebenkov, head of the administration of the Cheryomushki village where the employees of the station and their families live said: "We must launch a couple of units - the fifth and the sixth ones - at least for an idle run." The sooner they are launched, the more confident local people will be in the long-term. It would also failsafe operation of the cushion pool and all other units. The deadlines have been fixed and the plant's management holds meetings every day but it will help a lot if the prime minister reminds all employees of responsibility for their actions.
Grebenkov considers Putin's live broadcasts useful. Protection of law and order will be another issue. One of the most frequently asked questions is as follows: "Isn't it time to conduct reform to break this vicious circle in which both common people and policemen have got involved?" The police issue began to be discussed after a number of high-profile crimes by law-enforcement officials and the shambolic internet address by Major Alexei Dymovsky from the Novorossiisk department of internal affairs. He has already tried to get through to Putin during the past year's question-and-answer session and still hopes to get hold of him.
"I have called twice already," Dymovsky told Izvestia. "I asked one and the same question: ‘When will an end be put to police outrages in the Krasnodar Territory?' I'm going to call 15 times before December 3. This time I'll ask questions about Russia in general, about the regions I've been to and know what's going on there. Everyone is entitled to one minute to ask a question but I'll make it, I'm a fast speaker," he said.
Dymansky believes that the chances of getting an answer will become much higher if thousands of people ask the same question. The prime minister is expected only to give a signal rather than take any drastic measures.
Residents of Pikalyovo are most likely to expect specific and traditionally tough decisions from Putin.
Yevgeny Gontmakher, head of the Institute of the Economy's Social Policy Centre, said: "I don't think that local people can suggest any decisions to the prime minister. They are most likely to address him with an emotional request: Please make our life good forever so that we don't have to go through a crisis again."
The problem is that the agreement signed in the past and televised for the whole country is drawing to a close. "The owners of three plants are not likely to come to terms again unless a member of the government pounds his fist on the table," Gontmakher said.
Live broadcast toll-free telephone number: 8-800-200-40-40; Number for SMS messages: 04040. Site in the Internet: WWW.MOSKVA-PUTINU.RU.
Alexandra Beluza
