Citizens came to Putin with different problems. For example, representatives of the fishermen association complained about taxes. Though the law on fishing is valid, the catch ends up abroad anyway.
"Conditions should be created for fishermen to motivate them to sell fish in Russia. They should gain profit from it. Now, however, they have to pay 18% VAT to sell fish in Russia and only 5% custom duty to sell it abroad. Maybe we should introduce tax concessions to fishermen," suggested the representatives.
"We will need to calculate it all," answered Vladimir Putin. "We will discuss this matter with the Ministry of Finance, though they are quite reluctant when it comes to VAT. However VAT is not the golden calf that we should be incessantly cowering before and that we shouldn't change with regard to the current situation."
Then they discussed political problems. All the participants turned out to be members of the Popular Front. They have recently had preliminary elections or primaries. Even despite the fact that this procedure is new, some sneaks managed to find ways to fabricate the results, causing uproar in the Far Eastern District.
"Later people said that if it was going to continue this way, they would not participate in the elections," said activists.
The following had occurred: the candidates who were leading in the primaries were not the ones who actually won. Voters were outraged so the checks started. It turned out that the winners got twice more votes than there really were. And suddenly the documents came up that showed clearly how many votes each candidate should receive; the number stood near the surname.
One activist who attended the meeting had been in the election committee, and once he noticed the forgery he refused to sign the protocol. All the TV channels showed the news. Putin watched one piece as well. Due to some reason it was decided to perform closed counting of votes, and when the journalists tried to enter the hall with their cameras they were sent away on the ground of some unknown rule.
"What's the point of having such rules...ones that allow this kind of behaviour?" Putin was outraged.
The prime minister promised to cancel the election results; as being the head of the United Russia party grants him this power.
Members of the Popular Front complained that once a person enters the organisation it immediately spoils relations with the local authorities.
"Well, you should understand that no one wants to abandon their cozy positions," explained Putin.
Nigina Beroyeva