Third correspondent is in a clinic in Chelyabinsk Oblast. Says it just opened in February and there are one doctor, a nurse, and an occasional dentist. Main problem, he says, is lack of personnel. Speaks to a doctor who says the main problem is that young doctors come but can't get anywhere to live and so they leave.
Then they put on their correspondent in Pskov Oblast. He is at a cancer center that was opened by Dmitry Medvedev when he was president three years ago. People are complaining now that it is almost impossible to see a doctor and patients are standing in line for hours. The admissions nurse says there is no problem and points out that no one is in the waiting room. Correspondent says that when they were there yesterday without cameras, they saw patients waiting in line. Correspondent goes back and interviews waiting patients who say various things. One says he didn't have to wait; another says she had to wait three weeks. One patient says doctors are leaving because of low wages. Correspondent praises the quality of the equipment....
Moderator says that new, modern health-care facilities are opening, but many ordinary clinics and hospitals are closing. They speak with correspondents at several such regional clinics in Smolensk, Pskov, and Chelyabinsk oblasts where people are complaining. First woman complains she get ordinary checkups for her son who was born three months ago. Says she is told she has to travel two hours by bus to the city of Smolensk to get basic care. Admissions nurse then says that if a patient needs to see a surgeon or a neurologist, they can have an appointment today, although she admits that "there are nuances." The correspondent then goes into a doctor's office where the doctor is standing by her desk waiting for them. She says there is a shortage of doctors, says average wages for doctors is around 20,000 rubles.
- By Carl Schreck
From the popular and bitingly critical social-media personality StalinGulag, who only recently revealed his real identity.
--"Vladimir Vladimirovich, our wages are falling, we are getting poorer."
--"In fact, wages are rising, but I want to tell people out there on the Internet: don't get mad. Wages really are rising, just not yours."
Putin says main issue is to improve worker productivity and on that basis lift the entire economy.
Putin mentions sanctions and low prices on energy exports. Admits that average incomes have fallen in recent years, but says they are now on the rise. Says that paying off commercial loans has also had a negative impact on incomes. Says it is hard to get a handle on wages because of large variations by economic sector and geographic region, but adds that average figures do show an upward tendency.
- By Carl Schreck
Quick work: Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, says some of the complaints citizens submitted for the call-in show have been resolved even before it started, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. Still, we can probably expect some regional officials to get a public and stern talking-to from Putin. Peskov says he will most definitely speak with leaders in "specific regions" where citizens have flagged problems.
Moderator says that many people are writing that life has become more difficult and asks, "when will things get better?"
Correction: They've been banned from recording a video address from outside the landfill site, where they've clashed for months with an army of security guards and riot police. Instead they were bused to an alternative location.