Direct Line with Vladimir Putin

 

Direct Line with Vladimir Putin

The annual special Direct Line with Vladimir Putin was broadcast live by Channel One, Rossiya 1, Rossiya 24 and Public Television of Russia TV channels, and Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations.

June 7, 2018

16:20

Moscow

 

Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.

Andrei Kondrashov: Good afternoon. This is Direct Line with Vladimir Putin, a live broadcast by Channel One and Rossiya television channels. This event is also broadcast today by Rossiya 24 and the Public Television of Russia TV channels, and by Vesti FM, Mayak and Radio Rossii radio stations.

The anchors here in the studio today are Kirill Kleimyonov and myself, Andrei Kondrashov. Our colleagues in the call centre are Natalya Yuryeva and Tatyana Remezova.

Kirill Kleymenov: Good afternoon. This is the first Direct Line since President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration. This programme is hugely popular. As of now, we have received around two million questions from the public.

Of course, some of the issues come up year after year. They include healthcare, housing and, of course, wages and pensions. There are also acute problems that are particularly pressing this year. Rising petrol prices is the main topic these days. All these issues will be discussed today. But, frankly speaking, we do not really want this Direct Line to become a book of complaints. Therefore, today we will also speak at length about Russia’s future and the goals for the next few years.

However, as we speak about current problems, of course, we hope to solve some of them, here in the studio.

Andrei Kondrashov: As you may know, 2018 was declared the Year of Volunteering. That is why volunteers are helping us here today.

They represent dozens of charity organisations. Here they all are, young and enthusiastic. And because they are young, they will be interested in the contours of Russia’s future more than anything else.

What is the point of them being here in this studio? They have been working with us for the past ten days and, you know, they have already managed to solve some minor and even not so minor problems reported by the public. As is often the case, local officials shift their responsibility to the federal government. And these guys have been calling governors and forcing them to act the way they ought to. Therefore, today they are ready to tell a few stories like this to the President when he arrives.

Kirill Kleymenov: Let me add that today, like in the early Direct Lines, we decided not to invite guests to the studio, and we did it specially to enable more questions to be asked by people who are out there on the spot.

Andrei Kondrashov: And perhaps a more serious change. For the first time in the history of this programme, we have decided to use the same video links which the President uses sometimes, indeed, rather frequently, to communicate with the governors, federal ministers and deputy prime ministers. And all these people – regional heads, key federal ministers and deputy prime ministers – will be live in this studio today.

So, if need be, the President can invite any of these people to talk and if such conversations do take place, this would certainly be interesting.

Kirill Kleymenov: And so, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin is on the air.

Natalya Yuryeva: Good afternoon, Mr President.

Tatyana Remezova: Good afternoon.

Natalya Yuryeva: This is our traditional message processing centre, it has been working for more than ten days already.These are the telephone operators and here are the volunteers, this is something new that we did not have before.

Volunteers: Good afternoon.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Hello and thank you very much.

Volunteer (Passes a document to the President.): This is one of the most frequently asked questions, take a look at it during the Direct Line if you get a chance.

Vladimir Putin: OK. A question about fish, important.

Tatyana Remezova: Good afternoon. We are working in the call centre that is receiving questions for the Direct Line. I think right now the number of calls has just gone over two million. You can submit your questions to Vladimir Putin right now. The telephone number has not changed: 8 (800) 200 4040. You can also use 04040 for SMS and MMS messages. If you want to watch the broadcast with sign interpretation, please tune in to the Public Television of Russia or go to our website.

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