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Live Blog: Putin's Annual Address As It Happened

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given his annual address to parliament.

-- Russian President Vladimir Putin used his annual state-of-the-nation address to parliament to focus on domestic affairs, including measures to counter Russia’s declining population.

-- The address was delivered this year at Moscow’s Manezh exhibition hall.

-- It was the 16th time Putin has delivered the address before an audience that includes government ministers, judges from the constitutional and supreme courts, leading regional officials, and other members of the political elite.

09:30 15.1.2020

Warns regional leaders not to reduce their payments to teachers in response to the increase from the federal budget. Says "I will be watching this."

09:29 15.1.2020

Says salaries for teachers should be raised by 5,000 rubles by September 1.

09:28 15.1.2020

Says regions must do more to make sure all schools have proper facilities, including facilities for music and art education.

09:28 15.1.2020

Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin isn't the only one whose tan has drawn attention from the commentariat. (commentariatichiki?)

German Gref, the CEO of state-run bank Sberbank, is also sporting quite a healthy, sunny tan.

09:27 15.1.2020

Say that almost all schools in Russia now have access to the Internet, but that now they must all have high-speed connections.

09:27 15.1.2020

Urges the government to determine how many new schools are needed for the growing student population.

09:26 15.1.2020

Says every child, no matter where they live, should have the opportunity to receive a quality education.

09:25 15.1.2020

Putin is definitely going deep in the weeds on the issue of "maternal capital" and how the government payments and subsidies will be structured in coming years.

Among other things, he's proposing what amounts to a 50 percent increase in such subsidies.

His discussion of how mortgage rates vary from region to region is also very deep in the nuts-and-bolts of social policy.

And that's before he pivots to the question of "free quality hot meals" at Russian schools around the country.

He says the government should guarantee free hot means for all students in grades 1 through 4.

09:24 15.1.2020

Says the necessary infrastructure of kitchens and cafeterias needs to be built in all schools across the country so that free meals can be provided by the beginning of the 2023 school year.

09:21 15.1.2020

These subsidies are very popular among Russians, and this move is likely to a domestic political winner for Putin.

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