Next question is from a coronavirus medical volunteer, who says there have been problems with getting medicines and with long delays waiting for ambulances. Says medics in Murmansk and other regions are not being paid their promised bonuses. Says technical personnel who are also risking their lives are not getting any bonuses at all. Says her organization is ready to give Putin "a huge file" of complaints on these issues. Putin notes that he spoke with this woman "yesterday" about these topics.
Putin says the government gave the regions "10 billion rubles" for PPE and first-response equipment and "5 billion" for free medicine for people who are treating themselves at home. Speaking of Ryazan Oblast, Putin says all the federal money for that region has been sent and promises to "look into" any problems there. "Of course, we are going to find out where the money is," Putin says. Says that governors are reporting to him that things are under control, but "judging by the number of complaints," something must be going on.
Putin often uses his annual press conference to create the impression that he is cracking the whip over regional officials who are failing the people.
Next question is from REN-TV. Says there is controversy about the origin of the coronavirus and wants to know what Russia thinks of that. Putin says Russia has no evidence that the virus was artificially created or intentionally released. Says now is not the time to search for blame but to come together and help people who are suffering. Says barriers and sanctions should be lifted to combat the virus. Praises Russia's cooperation with other countries, particularly China.
Putin returns to the question of foreign interference in Russian elections, which he forgot to answer earlier. Says "of course, there will be attempts," but Russia is able to effectively counter them. Says Russia must determine its own internal affairs itself. Russia will defend its sovereignty, while at the same time Russia is open to observers and criticism. Russia is "more open than any other country." Says U.S. bans foreign election observers, by contrast. Praises "public organizations" for participating in the election process. Says elections will be "open and transparent."
Next question is about the street-level economic issues brought on by the pandemic. Asks what is being done about inflation.
- By Mike Eckel
Here’s a shot of the Moscow auditorium, where journalists are seated, socially distanced and masked, waiting to ask questions of Putin:
"Now he'll talk about macaroni" -- in recent days, Putin has been voicing anger about rising pasta prices, seemingly eager to indicate he is addressing Russians' day-to-day economic worries.
Putin says the situation is "complicated." Pandemic closed a lot of production and reduced real incomes. "We see this and understand it," Putin says. Putin takes exception to the reporter's claim that things have never been so bad, by saying that Russia has indeed seen much worse problems.
Putin says the government is working to reduce the percentage of the population living in poverty. Putin says that some price increases are justified. But in some cases, increases are "not connected with real circumstances." Notes that Russia had a "record harvest" this year, but bread and pasta prices have gone up. Says government is helping sugar producers, but sugar prices still increasing. Same problem with cooking oil.
Says that Russian producers are increasing prices simply because world prices have increased. Says the government has been slow to react to these changes with "market mechanisms," but he hopes that it will correct this.
"I hope this reaction will come in the next few days or weeks," he says.
In line with Putin's frequent portrayal of the 1990s as a modern-day time of troubles. His first two four-year terms coincided with economic growth fueled mainly by high world oil prices.