The direct line with Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking place on Thursday, December 19, at Gostiny Dvor in Moscow. This year, it has been combined with a major press conference. The event will begin at 12:00 PM. "Pervy Tekhnichesky" is monitoring the live broadcast for you and highlighting the most important moments.
Questions for Vladimir Putin's direct line in 2024 were entrusted to artificial intelligence - GigaChat from Sber.
The President, with a 13-minute delay, announces the start of the press conference and first notes that the overall growth of industry in 2024 amounted to 4.4%, and specifically, manufacturing — 8%.
Putin noted that the main driver of the economy is sovereignty.
Sovereignty is different. Both defense, technological, scientific, educational, and cultural. This is very important. It is especially important for our country because if we lose sovereignty, we lose statehood. This is the most important thing. And strengthening sovereignty is also a result of economic growth.
Putin notes that salaries in Russia in 2024 have increased in real terms by 9%. However, the inflation situation still shows alarming signals. The head of state further clarifies that when speaking about the growth of salaries and real incomes of the population, he means averaged figures.
I am talking about averaged figures because when we plan something, we must operate with them. Regarding the increase in prices, there are things of both an objective and subjective nature. What are the objective ones? And most importantly, the supply in the market must correspond to the incomes of the population. Or the incomes of the population, the purchasing power, must correspond to the volume of goods produced in the country.
The President, answering a question from a resident of the Kursk region, assured that Russia plans to restore all damaged settlements on the line of combat contact. For this, residents will be issued certificates for housing repairs.
Afterwards, we will assess the damage. And everything will be restored. Both roads and communal infrastructure, and schools, kindergartens, clubs, housing, of course, and certificates for housing restoration will be issued. 108 billion has already been allocated for these purposes. The administration will be working throughout the holidays.
The President was also asked about the origin of the "Oreshnik" missile. He noted that there were developments from the Russian period, based on which engineers thought about what else could be done. In the end, the development was brought to Putin.
I also took part in this. This is a new medium-range weapon.
According to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, no one has a chance to shoot down the "Oreshnik". Putin invited those Western experts who think otherwise to conduct an experiment.
Let them determine an object for destruction, concentrate all air defense and missile defense systems there, and we will strike with "Oreshnik", let's see what happens.
Noting the successes of the new regions of the Russian Federation, Putin pointed out the great potential for development, including in the tax sphere.
According to the President, tax growth in Lugansk was about 90%, in Donetsk — 79%, and a similar stable trend is also noted in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
The revival is going quite quickly and they are entering the zone of self-sufficiency, and the country is lending them a shoulder in time.
The President pointed out the importance of resolving the issue with pensions for residents of the new regions. Putin expressed hope that the work of interdepartmental regional commissions will be налажена so that people who are left without documents can confirm their pensionable service. A resident of Krasny Liman, who became a citizen of the Russian Federation, is addressing the President with a corresponding question. Now he cannot get the right to receive a pension, as he lost his supporting documents as a result of a fire.
It is necessary to confirm the length of service. It was difficult to do this until recently. Very recently, a law was adopted that all the experience gained by a person in previous years and decades is counted... I very much ask the leadership of the republic to organize their work in such a way that issues of this kind are resolved without unnecessary bureaucracy.
Putin was also shown beaches in Anapa covered in fuel oil. An appeal was recorded by a female volunteer from Vityazevo, who asked the President for help.
It is necessary to think now about what to do with the flooded fuel after the accident in the Kerch Strait, so it is necessary to pull the tankers ashore. Part of this material - fuel oil - has already settled to the bottom, and somewhere in May it may rise at other temperatures and also be thrown out. And therefore, it is necessary to prepare now for the moment when the water temperature rises.
The President clarified that more than 4,000 people are working on the site, and their number can be increased if necessary.
Almost 40% of the fuel has leaked out. Various services are working on this. There is a working group headed by Deputy Prime Minister Savelyev. It is necessary to study in what condition the tankers are in. It is also necessary to think about what to do in the near future. Law enforcement officers are assessing the captains of the ships who did not go to shelter in time, and did not anchor where they needed to.
Putin spoke about the work of the Central Bank. According to the head of state, a number of experts believe that the regulator could have used certain instruments earlier to curb prices.
The Central Bank started doing this in the summer, but these experts believe that it could and should have been done earlier.
Speaking about the development of transport infrastructure, the President announced plans to build a new ring road, which will be built around the Sea of Azov.
We plan to build a ring road around the Sea of Azov, which has become an internal sea of the Russian Federation. And it will be the same road as "Tavrida" in Crimea: four-lane traffic with all the advantages of such a highway.
Putin called Grozny a modern Russian miracle. According to him, the development of the region after several difficult years is now admirable.
You know, this miracle, this is a modern Russian miracle. The appearance of Grozny is the result of the work of the Chechen people, their hard work and talent, which cannot but cause a feeling of pride.
The head of state highly appreciated relations with China. He recalled that in 2025 the countries will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
This level of relations between Russia and China is associated with mutual trust, Putin noted. Now the trade turnover between the countries is 220-230 billion dollars.
Putin recalled the responsibility of non-nuclear states that may participate in aggression against Russia or Belarus together with countries possessing nuclear weapons.
Putin demanded that airlines stop the practice of understating benefits on tickets. He instructed the government and aviation companies to resolve this issue no later than January 14, 2024. Thus, he answered a question from a mother of many children who complained about the price of tickets.
As for recreation and relocation, you are right, there is such a problem. I spoke on this topic with the relevant leaders... What is happening there? There is a decision - in my opinion, it is stated in the code that large families should be given a discount of 50% of the standard fare. What do aviation companies do? They introduce their own benefits, small, insignificant, but these are no longer standard fares. And then they say that this is already a preferential, non-standard fare, so we will not provide a 50% discount.
The press secretary of the head of state, Dmitry Peskov, said that he simply could not fail to give the floor to a representative of the radio "Purga". The journalist asked a question about difficulties with the Internet in Chukotka.
We have a program for the development of communications and the Internet, a satellite group, all this will be done. Resources have been allocated for this.
The President added that in the situation with the suspension of YouTube in Russia, there are more questions for this platform. He recalled that both YouTube and Google are obliged to comply with the laws of the country.
If they change the principles of their work in Russia, then they will have no problems. Claims against Google and other Western platforms that do not comply with Russian laws are justified.
The Russian authorities will retain the Far Eastern, Arctic mortgage, as well as mortgages in new regions at a rate of 2% per annum, Putin stressed.
The Far Eastern mortgage at 2% remains, in the Arctic - 2%, new regions - 2%.
Putin said that the provision of medicines is as important as the provision of specialists. According to him, pharmaceutical companies have begun to invest their own resources in the development of the industry. We are talking about billions of rubles.
In addition, they create their own substances and preparations. We have begun to produce complex medicines, including for the fight against cancer, this is developing well in St. Petersburg.
Putin noted that Russia will increase its share in LNG supplies. According to him, the needs for energy for the world economy are growing.
The needs for energy from the point of view of the development of the world economy, they still continue to grow, the need is growing, it will grow, this is not our data, this is the data of world economic institutions. And this product will simply be in demand in world markets, we will continue to do this, and we will increase our share in the world LNG markets.
Putin noted that he had not encountered the activities of telephone scammers, but his acquaintances had. The President clarified that the issues of protecting the population from fraudsters are actively discussed both in the State Duma and in the Central Bank, and measures will be taken against banks that issue unsecured loans.
Putin, commenting on the possibility of banning porn sites, said that bans have the right to exist, but it is necessary to offer a more interesting alternative.
Porn sites are watched, in my opinion, all over the world! Like ordering a cutlet. This is not only our trouble, it is the trouble of many other countries.
Putin noted that Korolev, being a science city, deserves special attention. He stressed that this is a well-known and recognized center, actively involved in the development of the space industry.
Korolev is a well-known, recognized center. I will not go into details now. But Korolev, as a science city, certainly deserves due attention.
The live broadcast of Vladimir Putin's press conference and direct line ended at 16:35 Moscow time. Thank you for being with us, and we are ending our online coverage.