Izvestia: “Putin speaks to the nation”
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will hold his annual live question and answer session today. At noon, all of Russia's central TV channels will start broadcasting the videoconference, which may last for hours.
Judging by previous years, the prime minister is likely to answer people's questions for several hours running. The number of questions sent in to the programme exceeds half a million, and people are still submitting.
Vladimir Putin made a record number of domestic trips in Russia in 2010. He visited one of the Russian regions almost every week.
He visited the Raspadskaya coalmine, which was destroyed by a methane explosion, and travelled to villages devastated by wildfires. He drove across Russia's Far East by car. At every turn, Putin talked to people and answered their most pressing questions.
The more Putin talks to the nation, the more issues arise. Russians are now sending in their questions for the prime minister in anticipation of the videoconference.
"We already have more than half a million, and the number is growing," said Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.
The high interest in Putin's next live session is reflected in the growing number of issues that have been raised and is largely due to recent technological innovations. This year, in addition to the call centre, where 150 operators take people's questions 24 hours a day, Russians sent text messages to the short number 04040 or posted their most burning questions on the www.moskva-putinu.ru and www.москва-путину.рф sites.
Moscow residents have been the most active participants, as in previous years. The Southern Federal District, with the Krasnodar Territory being most active, ranked second, according to Peskov. It was followed by the Northwestern, Far Eastern, and other federal districts.
Those people with whom the prime minister met over the past year – workers, students, farmers, doctors, teachers and many others – will gather at Gostiny Dvor studios, Peskov said. Mobile TV studios traditionally operate in several Russian cities during the event. There will be no TV cameras abroad, but people from other countries, especially the CIS, will also have an opportunity to talk to the Russian prime minister.
So what worries Russians the most?
"We will try to cover all of the most pressing problems, economic and social," Peskov promised.
Social security will probably top the list of concerns this year. The prime minister will talk about the retirement age and the need to raise it, maternity benefits, and the need to index other social benefits.
He will certainly answer the "question of the day." Two years ago, every other caller asked the prime minister for advice on how to survive the economic crisis. Last year, people wanted the terrorists who blew up the Nevsky Express train to be caught.
These days, the nation's attention is riveted on the recent riots in Moscow's Manezh Square and the Kushchevskaya massacre.
Anastasia Savinykh
