president putin: the government supports all different promises with donor regions. donor regions. of course, we help them to stay this way like moscow and moscow province. we do want to. lot in theted a lot in the infrastructure in moscow and the moscow area. in we do the same with other places like st. petersburg. launched a newwe road there that will be very helpful for the entire northwestern part of russia. you asked about public that -- debt. this is a very serious issue. it should not exceed 50% of its

internal revenue. in the situation is quite positive. has ans the government very proper balanced financial policy. there are only five provinces in russia that violated this rule. course, require special attention. whole, i have disabled this is a serious issue. over 2 trillion rubles. even though the government takes necessary steps to address this , we allocated them to , we withdraw from

in the finances ministry which have lower interest rates. we will continue this work in the future. and next year, we have allocated sufficient funds. let's go to the bbc. >> here in the center please. >> like to ask the question in english. president, your country has been accused of state-sponsored with the results of the u.s. presidential election.

president obama has hinted strongly that he thinks you are behind that. said not much happens in russia without vladimir putin. president obama revealed that he told you personally to cut it out. what did you tell him in response? can you confirm that you were warned by washington not to temper with america's election? the red phone, the crisis line between your two countries. in the points behind donald trump's tweet. wasyou not concerned there a danger? >> a new arms race. conditions for a new arms race

were created when the u.s. withdrew from the treating. this is obvious. have one party withdrawing from the treaty and they say they are going to , thee a nuclear umbrella other party has to create a similar umbrella. we are not sure we want to do that. we don't think this program can be effective. the other option is to create capabilities for penetrating and to renew the nuclear strike capabilities. did.is not something we we have made quite substantial progress with that. it's true that we have been doing that.

it is quite effective and we still stay within the framework. but we don't violate anything. we are still in line with all our obligations. recently, we went to nuclear sites in monitored the way that reduce nuclear warheads. >> the u.s. withdrew from the treaty. it was not us. they did it. our systems, the missile defense capabilities. moresystem is much effective. perhaps this is why we are anxious to enhance their nuclear

capabilities. including your country. help that your audience is aware of that. turkey, the u.k., the netherlands. americans are upgrading weapons to deploy there. domestic consumptions. i would like to say that we will , and wein an arms race will never spend the resources

that we can't afford. at the beginning, i said that in 2011, we spent 2.7% over gdp on defense. was 4.7%, then 3.3%. we have done everything we need. we are taking care of our basic needs, modernizing our weaponry. and by 2021, with nuclear forces. we're happy with this situation. mentioned tampering and our conversation with president obama.

reveal the contents of our conversations one-on-one. mentioned tampering. i mentioned to your colleague from the united states, losers to accusek for ways somebody else. they should look at themselves first. they always forget the most important thing. hackers hacked the democratic party emails. some hackers did it. ok. the president-elect said, who knows who those hackers were? abd were not in russia. maybe it was some other country or some guy lying on his sofa, on a couch. it is easy for them to blame it on some other country.

the thought the most important thing. the most important thing is what was revealed. it is not like they invented something. true information was revealed. by the fact that after the the democratic party has been manipulating public opinion in favor of one candidate. against senator sanders. the democratic party leadership resigned in this indicates this was true. againing never to do that .

they started looking for people that hacked into their emails. as for my private conversation, i never reveal the content of those conversations. reportshat there were and it was his advisor, his helper. you can talk to him about that. the environment is really important. >> thank you for this opportunity to ask the question. i like to wish you a happy new year. you and everyone in this room and in the country.

about environments, 2017 is going to become the year of environments. be a meeting conceding -- concerning russia for future generations. it's the first time it was worded this way. comingson why they are the environmental year that they think will be for it. announced as a year of environments.

you admitted that. some specific .uggestions i have a lot of experience. this meeting will take place, maybe i can attend it? andaybe russian embassies other countries should have some environmental department that would deal with environmental policies in the world because the west is not taking care of environmental problems right now . they are busy with other things. is paying more and more attention.

the most important thing, we the media policy. they change the mindset. >> you also criticized us, our western partners. i don't quite agree with what you say.

the western countries, the united states and europe. i don't think they care less about the environment now. they were quite successful with it. russia made some serious commitments and they fully respect those. this pointo tell at because we need to consider ways to implement those agreements. but we are ready. the technological aspect of those agreements.

there certainly going to do that. as for domestic policies, environment protection has always been very important for us. and we will continue to care about environments. we want to pass on to future generations our environment in a very proper shape. i care a lot about those landfills. own to details right now. there is a special government program for that and we will certainly do that. preservation. we will certainly have to change some of the regulations to address these problems.

this needs a resources. it is equally important. about the forest to preserve them. care for the forest properly, we won't have them. becauseeaper and easier you have roads there. we have to be careful with organizations like yours. i have a full to you and other environmental media. sites that go to these

and are not afraid of anything. i incurred you to continue the work and i invite you to join the state council. to join the person meeting of the state council on the environment in december. we have another question on pensions now. this is an extremely important question. >> good afternoon. my question is this. some of our citizens retired early. but there have been more and more cases of teachers and doctors having to go to court. to protect the rights of earlier retirements.

what do we expect for next year? the 90's,cently in the level of tension was not on labor history. people would get this same amount of money. and currently, it is based on three. and what kind of salary you had before you retired. age at which you started to get pension.

figures, this will remain unchanged. you ask about earlier retirement. this is one of the issues that require special attention. we have a lot of people that retire early. i don't want to anticipate anything right now and tell you about our plans. before changing anything, we have to discuss this publicly and openly. we will only make those decisions after we carefully consider the situation. future, i can tell you just like we planned , theer this year

pensioners regardless of how much they get. for many pensioners, this will be more than the end of the year. we have enough funds in our budget to index. forions for retirees inflation in 2016. we'll go back. it will be indexed as well.

>> my questions about the .kraine the crisis is frozen now. haveems that the conflicts stopped -- the parties have stopped listening to each other. your opinion between you and the ukraine. >> this is the ukrainian

journalist that has been working in moscow for a long time. i'm not sure you can answer both of our questions. recently, russia has a lot of ukrainian citizens arrested. the cases look politically motivated. >> i would like to be more specific now. you often say you had to protect the russian speaking population. please tell me where is this written for these agreements.

comments.for your >> it would be great if the ukrainian group would not be considered occupants. that is what you should focus on. >> we do everything so that prisoners captured by both sides would be exchanged. more people would be exchanged, the better. be in all for all exchange. there are some details.

the representatives are not satisfied with. they are considered to be held illegally. but there is a significant number of individuals that are kept in ukraine's prisons. , ukraine's authorities consider it legally held. them --'t want to put so if it's in all for all exchange, you need to issue an amnesty law and release all of them. otherwise it would be difficult to find a consensus. journalists and directors have to do with the profession tells them to do.

as for the servicemen. the servicemen of ukraine's army which were captured. no one tortured them. no one beat them up. they confessed and it is very check whether they are actually officers of the ukrainian military on payroll. they give the name of the units, the name and rank of their commanders. the task that they were given. released all that information. this needs to be stopped.

this practice needs to be stopped. it will be easier to resolve other issues. getting back to journalists and film directors. no one has a desire to keep journalists, if they are really journalists. what do we do if a film director that has been proven in court that was preparing to stage a terror act? should we release him to keep the military officers. what way is he different from the military officers? if we release those, others would come tomorrow.

this has to be stopped. as you rightly said, it was difficult to align those questions. >> your opinion on the --sibility , it isor the group extremely efficient. , the activities as desirable. but we don't have any other alternatives. i believe we need to continue working within this framework. , the lose this tool

situation will to grade very quickly. regime and ie fully support this. that itore, i believe is a remnant of the past. it is eligible. this will be the right step forward. this will be an opportunity without the right to work. workers. we have about 3 million workers.

a visa regime in europe, people with migrant workers will move to europe. but if the right to work will not be given, people will come challenges.d face they go back to the ukraine, and go back to the eu. they will be exploited to the fullest extent. so if you allow visa free

travel, you need to allow the right to work. turkey.ve >> and then channel one. putin, russia and turkey -- one of build the the issues in the syrian conflict without the support of the west -- i mean aleppo. in the future, will ankara and moscow be able to use this potential? will iran, turkey and russia be gameso stand against the being played in the middle east? this alliance, will it be

able to play a key role in the resolution of the syrian conflict? in second question -- october 2015, you made some agreements with erdogan about syria and the russian plane was downed. and then, normalization started and then there was a coup attempt. are turkey and russia cooperating with aleppo. the russian ambassador was in ankara. do you think this was a coincidence? president putin: the tragedy the took place recently, assassination of our ambassador. actually anas attempt on russia, russian-turkish relations.

the idea thatl of russian aircraft was shot down without the consent of the turkish leadership. as you remember, some of them stated that it was just done by some individuals who wanted to interfere with relations. right now, i might change my opinion. you might have destructive elements in the government -- a deep level of infiltration in the turkish army, law enforcement officials. i don't want to point a finger at somebody, but that is really happening. will that challenge russian-

turksish relations? no, because we are fully aware of the importance of russian-turkish relations and will develop them. we will keep in mind the but alsoof turkey, keep in mind around interests. after west year, normalize the relations, we were able to find the compromises we needed so we can continue finding consensus going forward. as for aleppo, indeed, the and, asn was resolved you remember, some of the deblocked,at were and these villages were populated by a shia majority.

certainly a big role was played by the leadership of iran and the president of turkey. certainly, without russia, it would be impossible -- i do not want to brag about that, but that is true. this certainly plays a critical role in resolving the aleppo crisis. is the also important final stage. i got the report of the defense minister. there were no hostilities. hostilities were stopped. dozens of thousands of people were evacuated in aleppo. it is not just the radical groups. it was women and children who were evacuated. we are talking about 100,000 people. of other people

were evacuated from other villages in exchange with this relation. this is the biggest, again, the operationmanitarian in the world, and certainly, it could not have been achieved without the cooperation by the turkish president, iran, and certainly, we had the goodwill and the work that was conducted by the syrian president, mr. ass ad, and his government. it showed this kind of cooperation is indeed in demand that has been very helpful. we need to think about egypt,

jordan, saudi arabia. we should not forget about the u.s. that is why we are ready to work .ith every stakeholder that further on, we need to sign an agreement on cease-fire across all the territory of syria. we will need to start negotiations and political reconciliation. suggested -- the capital of zakhstan.kato be catholics the president said he would create all the conditions for this. this will happen.

>> this is becoming a habit. channel one. >> my question is about taxes. this is income tax and property tax and they've been increased over the years. apart from the taxes that we pay, there are also certain fees and tariffs like building renovations or health care. it is totally free, but some services are not. or education, additional education, we have to pay money for. or parking in moscow. of course, in the center,

everyone is used to parking, paying for parking, but now the same will probably happen in residential areas. so, are we to expect something new this year? president putin: you have to divide -- differentiate between taxes and nontax fee. without the income tax, the individual income tax, you have the transport tax and the property tax -- single fee taxes for individuals. they remain among the lowest in europe. let's start with income tax for individuals. 30% of flat trade. you might remember it was introduced back in 2001. i also30% of had doubts. that we would lose a

large share of income because those would have to pay less. what about social equality? things like that. i mentioned that several times. i would like to reiterate it. introduced the flat rate of 30% of income tax for tax ratels, the increased seven times. receivedoney that we in our budget is then redistributed for social protection r. this ensures social equality. can we move to a different tax rate? perhaps.

perhaps it would be done someday, but at this point in time, it does not make sense because when we do it then we done someday, but at this point in might get entangled with the differentiation and eventually this would lead to less money in our budget, less tax collected. we could achieve these purposes in other ways. for example, increasing the tax on luxurious vehicles. we have done that. we can fine-tune that system. increasing taxes on expensive property. so, we have those tools. now, going back to the second part of the fees and charges. am i aware of this? yes.

fees which are assessed at the level of municipalities and we have thousands of them or the region, it is a problem. we have a solution. i will tell you what it is. the pressure has been growing. you need to have a big picture. the government has been and wil and wil sel set up a registry by june next year so we have a clear picture of what is happening in the country, regions and municipalities in terms of the load so we can fine-tune it. as for the federal level, we roze the growth in tariffs.

bills. energy certainly it will have an impact on utility bills. the key tool to curb the growth in tariffs is to descreacrease inflation. i have said previously we will be record low in the history of russia. if we continue to curb inflation 4% weep it down to, say, will settle the situation with tariffs. let's move on to other areas. like the chinese say, that is true. >> good afternoon, mr. putin. i'm from the website.

i have a question that our people are very concerned with. lot of problems and traffic jams. it's the only city in europe that doesn't have a ring road. so, our government wants to initiate a fund raiser to build the road. could we solve this problem on the federal level? then, the question about coal mining. so, now we believe that coal affects the environment and we need to stop using it. your take on the future of the basin and coal

mining? president putin: actual redevelopment of infrastructure is an issue. it is about building infrastructure and at the same time it has to be sustainable and have no impact on the environment. if you have any sponsor, any investor, we will try to support that both in the regional and federal level. we'll look at the proposal that has been coming out to the region. project if we can't for the region. for the region. we know there has been a lot of pressure on the environment. coal -- everyone has been saying we need to switch to alternative energy sources. everybody is working on that, wind and hydrogen and

solar energy too. it.re into just recently, i went to a plant . they've been implementing high-tech technology. the european commission reduced substitutes to the injur industry because it is extremely expensive. we need to modernize and improve the technology. miners and other workers, the world uses much more coal than oil and gas. i think even more than oil and

gas combined. ofl remains an integral part the world energy system. a considerable part. you rightly said we need to decreaseechnology to the impact on the environment. i know your region is moving in that direction. many enterprises switching to new high-tech processes technology. create a coalould powder that is used. i'm sure we will move in that area then your region and miners from other regions will have a promising future. they will be in demand. they will have a lot of workload in the positive way. that will help drive our

economies, the metal sector. the metal sector is going downs, but i'm sure it will have a bright future. >> following up on that question, i'd like to ask about oil. what is going to be the economics of the oil prices? right now, it is $45, $50 a barrel. is the russian budget ready to -- when we decrease the oil production as we agreed with opec? president putin: well, as far as

i know, crude is not $45, it is $55 a barrel. i looked it up this morning. our budget was based on a conservative forecast of $40 a barrel. we returned to the first few questions we had on our agenda today, as bureaucrats say. we can see the results we have achieved were achieved because the real situation turned out to be more complex than we expected because our 2016 budget was based on the assessment of $50 a barrel. the actual price was $40 a barrel. we saw a positive change in liquidity and inflation rate.

we kept it in control. so, this factor played an important role in what happened with the economy. the situation was worse than averagethe internationally, bute results are better which means our economy adjusted for the situation. nobody knows what the price was going to be like. it is a complicated issue. there are many different dynamics here and impossible to predict almost anything. its, the ministry gave forecast that oil surplus will be up by the end of 2017 and prices will stabilize. we expect oil to stabilize at the current level.

our economy will respond as opposed to oil cuts. considered the situation before we took this step. our production levels were quite high. the commitment that we may was 300,000 barrels over the period from january untilune. this will not have a major effect on our overall production. this is totally acceptable for russia. but we expected prices will go up as a result. we already see this happening. situation stays this way, the effect for the country, the

budget will be like this. $10, theice goes up by budget will receive an 1.74 trillion ruble in revenue. oil companies will get $750tional revenue of 750 billion. as a result, we will all win or benefit. i think this is the first time opec has made a decision like that in the years. years. the fact we agreed to work with opec helped. we will continue working with opec. we will fulfill our obligations, our commitments but we are not cartel.of this

we will stay in contact with opec and honor our commitments. at the same cartel. we will stay in contact time, wo act as we see fit, but we will only take action after we achieve certain results and we have been achieving positive results so far. we think this is helpful to opec nonmembers. nonmembers. >> perhaps, go to the central sector. > please do not interfere wih the cameraman's work.

>> good afternoon, mr. putin. for our newspaper, editor-in-chief. first of all, i'd like to thank our leaderslf of o for what you are doing for our national defense and our national sovereignty. we listen to what you say very carefully. when you say if someone wants to live under semi-occupation, we are not going to. we agree totally. think there are some problems, domestic problems in our country.

that we could probably characterize in the following media -- recently, mass uses a phrase that has an adjective as hybrid informational. the second word is war. goodur people have a memory and remembers our history. we went through some good wars where we came out as winners. the first thing we remember is the second world war. making parallels to the current situation, i'd like to ask you a question. our economy, our industries governmental bodies

acts in accordance with the decisions made by international and consulting from international companies. so, we learned about the foreign agents and foreign influence. first, the issue with consulting remains. wonderings have been should we be doing that here as well? own, what to do and which way to go. it is not only about the economy, it has to do about ideology as well. -- thestion raised here influx of imports of various

kinds results in a lot of problems that we have mentioned today and it affected our values.nal so, we think that we need import substitution in this values. area. recently, this question has been becoming more and more urgent. e measures the being taken? president putin: this is extremely important. wee all know what people think. kaza ionally, but hkstan has always been this way. i can remind everybody that war, they 1812

provided calvary, all of their male population joined the army. similar things happened during the second world war. as far as economic sovereignty is concerned, this is not just about import substitution. . our financial institution should be self-sufficient as well. credit cards. that wee many things take as a given and we thought they were separate from geopolitics, but it turned out this was not true when we needed to use political pressure, they started using economic factors to put pressure on us. -- this is also

very important. of course, we should consider that as well. this is not a simple issue, but we definitely need our own national rating agency. we should develop consulting as well. we are actually doing that already, but it is important to make sure the companies are transparent and respected by the business community. sense to, it makes no have such companies. if we get rid of those foreign companies that are respected in our country and internationally, our businesses will suffer the assessments provided by russian companies is nobody is going to respect their 't proveif they can prov

their competitiveness. we have been there before and we will see fall in investment. we will certainly work on that. guess you were going to ask theut difficulties and tragedies of the past of the plane crash, right? what are you going to ask about? >> good afternoon. i'm from:. poland. a few years ago in this very room, i asked you about the plane crash and you said you would talk to the investigative committee. what did they say? we know that the investigation continues, but it has been seven years. probably all the tests and exercise have been conducted. it is only a political decision

that is left to make, but that is only up to you. recently, some people say that poland has been distancing itself from the eu and the same has been said about other countries. is, if europe is weaker, is th beneficial for russia? is russia going to use this in its own interest? president putin: let's start with your first question first. yes, the investigation is underway. now, the second question, let's stop speculations. this was a terrible tragedy and i read through the transcript of the conversation between the pilot and one of the president's guards.

he went into the cockpit. i personally read through the and this man who went into the cockpit, i don't remember the name of this person, and they said we want to land. the pilot said i cannot land here, it is impossible. i cannot land here. and then the person, the said dotial aide, whatever you have to do but we have to land right now, right here. there is no need to speculate anymore. it is a terrible tragedy. we did everything necessary to make sure this incident is properly investigated. i wish you would use this to pressure, to create frictions between our two countries. it is crystal clear. if there are certain matters that are not fully clear, let investigators look into this matter. now, you also asked about a weaker euro and what we think

about it. of course, we want to have a reliable, strong, and independent partners in europe. our when we build relationship with europe -- if they tell us we need to go to a third country, why talk to europe at all? recently, a european politician are all european nations nations but not all of them realize that. i don't agree with this idea because you have great nations in europe. i don't want to mention anybody unless i offend anybody and we treat them as such. whatever europe does inside itself, how they build their

relationships with each other, it is not about business. you know better than myself that nations withereign a small infrastructure or a quasi-federal state. there are two concepts. like i said elsewhere, the number of provisions of that are mandatory for all the countries make up more decisions made than what the supreme council in the soviet union. i don't know whether it is good or bad for europe. it is not up for us to decide that. it is up to you. yes, there are differences about migrants, the migrant crisis. other things. again, it is up to europeans themselves to decide about that. there are certain countries in

europe who object to the current migrant policy and they want to the involved in the decision-making process more. they don't want to be imposed. they think those decisions are unacceptable. countries like poland, hungary. they should discuss those issues. not with us. they should discuss with brussels, other european capitals, issues. but whatever the situation is like within europe, we are always interested in developing our relationships with europe and we will always pursue that. of course, we want europe to speak with one voice. we want to have a partner we can talk to. butthis is what matters to us,t if we don't have such a partner, we will just talk bilaterally to each of the european nations separately.

this is what is happening now. we take up some of the issues with the european commission and then we take up other issues on the national level with european countries individually. we are happy with this kind of arrangement. it is up to europeans to decide what they do internally. >> it is like a dictatorship, huh? >> good afternoon. the topic of interest in -- for is importants, it but some it is not. armenia manages to benefit from

it. farmers went bankrupt. one more question -- this one is about russia. at there wereber th girls with tortured animals. righte a human ombudsman and other people so maybe we should have an animal rights organization and have a legal framework for that. president putin: as far as animal rights, our concern is right of course, but dog owners, rights.rs, people have , humanerian issues

treatment of animals, this is a separate issue. of course, we need that as well, but that is a separate matter. introduceproposals to a tougher punishment and tougher regulations and i would support that. regulations be some enforced. we should not go to extremes. it has to be reasonable. to the first part of your thetion, i think all members of the eu benefit from far as integration is concerned. theirly, they have difficulties, yes. specifically because of certain issues they have with kazakhst

an, with russia, sanitary regulations. tcurvesiall, increased just like some other countries. i won't mention specifically right now, but there was a huge increase for belarus. their exports to russia have increased dramatically. a very useful and beneficial process for all the members of the eau. with every culture, yes, there are certain problems because we need to comply with sanitary regulations. there are certain unresolved issues with that. necessary assistance to our friends to help them set up a sanitary

control system. expect our partners will also help with that, including financial and administrative and professional assistance so that occur there is a sanitary control system as well. so we don't have any imports coming that would be hazardous or dangerous in any way to our people. and itre ways to do that can be taken care of quite quickly. channel. accused of mortal sin in the west. russia today. >> thank you. good afternoon, mr. putin.

i'd like to talk about democracy. in the context of the presidential election in the u.s. american politicians love to talk about politics. that is what makes the u.s. exceptional. sometimes they say that other countries are not democratic enough so they share and spread their democracy. these very same people who are so proud of american democracy, common american people started saying that they were betrayed in the aftermath of the presidential election. what's wrong with democracy? is democracy a good thing? i'mher question that concerned about personally --

a person was convicted for seven years for treason. do you think this is textate punishment for the she sent about the military train? president putin: as far as the court decision is concern, our courts are independent in russia just like any other country. thisi do believe that verdict was quite tough. i'm not sure of the details. was it just a text she snent? she wrote what she saw and everybody saw that. this means it was not that big of a secret. i'm not quite sure into the details.

i will look into this matter, the accusations against her, the charges brought against her in court. that is number one. number two, your question about democracy. yes, there is an issue. we have been talking about this for quite a long time. our u.s. partners have been ignoring this matter. the problem is the system in the u.s. is archaic. don't have direct elections. they have two steps. first, there is the electoral college and then they elect the president. in certain states, they even have preferences. it is not clear why they have that. it is up to u.s. lawmakers to say why they have that. i don't know. maybe because they provide preferences to certain states, but it is up to american people to sort this out. it is not up to us. nk it isng -- i thi

until january 20, right? the democratic party, they clearly forgot -- have forgotten thisssence of what means to be democratic. they have been using administrative clout without shape. like, encouraging people to disobey voter decisions, electors. faithlessly. like i said earlier, i believe it is a great country and they will make necessary decisions, learn the lessons and the next electoral cycle -- let's go over there now. let's go. for example, a question about

chess. i think we need to change the subject. let's talk about chess now. >> thank you for this chance to ask a question. the -- all of russia was when he was going through the matches with the current world champion. was promised not only during the big international event, but even at the regional level. there should be a tournament established. we don't seeland, any support for chess. we have a very good chessplayer,

but when he suggests that we , held have a chess club gets the reply that there are other priorities. the question is how will we develop chess in our country in the near future and will we maybe have support for chess clubs and such? president putin: first and foremost, i don't think i should interfere with decisions made by local authorities like curriculum and things they should do, things they should add. it is a sensitive issue related to chess as part of the mandatory curriculum or even as an addition. oris up to local authorities maybe even a specific school to

decide that, but we certainly should be proud of our history in chess. people,that we have had top chess players, and the players we have today, we are proud of our chess players. talented we have this school in sochi. there. a chess section we need to develop chess throughout russia. i really expect in your region, i really hope people will pay attention to chess. they will support the chessplayer you just mentioned and everybody who loves chess. he really played

well but magnus carlsen is the top layer of our he really d time. our chess player was good as well. he performed very well. he's a real fighter. i really believe that he will win sooner or later. time. >> what is your question about? please.w >> thank you. to crimea and back. herene of my colleagues butd about this bridge, there is no official name. some people call it the crimean

bridge, the russian bridge. is which do you prefer? which would you suggest? and, again, back to stalingrad. the bridge is going to be completed very soon. what is the next big project here? president putin: well, as for it is up to the people. perhaps you could do it in an opinion poll or referendum. the most important thing is to build it. naming is secondary. idge,u call it the cass br let it be. issues that needs to be resolved. it has to be energy dependent,

self-sufficient in terms of energy supplies. it is very important. certainly, that has to be with our relations with the eu, the european union. they have to make the decision that the baltic states need to join their energy alliance and that causes problems for us in terms of energy supplies. it requires additional resources to build a new supply line. i'm not sure why they are doing it. previously, we didn't have any issues in terms of energy supplies to the baltic states. everything has been running smoothly. our european partners always tell us we need to come together, we need to move closer to find common ground, while

exactly the opposite is happening here. they've disrupted our relationship in a sensitive area as to energy. certainly, we will resolve this issue. ensure energy independence. you might have heard we plan to supply liquefied natural gas. we plan to build a power plant. we might use small-scale nuclear plants. this is one of the key areas to develop in. we need to have some kind of an energy resources to drive the economy. road construction, infrastructure -- certainly, there are a lot of issues. there are others pending. the most important thing we need the use of the

opportunities which is really close to our union partners. it is to be economically aligned to the economy in terms of preferences that the region has. so you have a free trade zone and preferences. instead of those, you have it from the federal government. it needs to be all aligned so that you are sustainable without any disruptions to the manufacturing sector, to infrastructure. crimea, one of the

problems is energy supplies. crimea, one of the finalized its has project. the oil pipelines of crimea are connected with the oil network, the pipeline network of russia. in the next few days, we will announce that. gas will beand supplied to crimea. winterright now, we have consumes 1300 megawatts. 800 used used to be supplied by ukraine. proprietary capacities

generate about 1000 or 1100 megawatts. next two or three days, we will start supplying and wesian natural gas will start construction of two power plants in crimea with a capacity of 470 megawatts. the total generating capacity will be around 2000 megawatts. as you can see, the peak consumption is 1000 megawatts. megawatts around 800 extra capacity. for the future, that will be needed for development of

economy. the other cultural center for manufacturing, tourism, recreation, construction of the hotels. so, this is a landmark event for crimea. i hope this will be good news for them. >> good afternoon, mr. put in. now, the international community is fighting terrorism. first and foremost, with the organization that calls itself islamic state. russianately, people in

are called in the same way including mass media, but we know terrorism has nothing to do with islam or states. don't you think it should be logical and right to forbid the mass media to use islamic state as a name? president putin: what kind of media do you work at? bend anything? i think it is wrong to bend anything. certainly, islam should not be -- together with a terror well, you have a person from the region. let's have a question from russia's north. >> good afternoon.

you visited our region a number of times. you opened some projects. will be honest -- it remain one of the drivers of the russian economy. we have a lot of projects, but we don't have enough roads. project with the russian railroads, etc. you are the person to ask, when is the construction going to start? another question. right now, the taxes of the region get redistributed to the neighboring regions that are

having a hard time. is it permanent or temporary? president putin: you just said we need to implement that project. will you be able to do it on your own? no. you need support too. practice by the finance ministry which calls for leveling out the income of different regions is the appropriate one. there might be regions that get mineralcome thanks to resources. we need to also keep in mind that all of this belongs to the people. all of the russian people. rights only ensure their through that leveling out practice.

incomes of the regional budgets. isthat the redistribution necessary to keep economic growth. you are absolutely right we should not have any freeloaders in russia. we need to stimulate regions to increase their tax base. in russia. i don't want to go into detail. there are a lot of ways to do it, but it has to be done. we have been trying to do that. we will continue to do that. as for the specific project you referred to, when? deemednce it's --nomically viable, feasible if they realize it is going to generate revenue -- we will launch that project. it is a project that the russian

economy really needs. it will help diversify our network. provide a new capacity for rail transportation and the connection to the port. the port is up and running. up one ofing to set the biggest enterprises in russia. perhaps it is one of the biggest investment projects in the world at this moment. its partners, european and chinese, and investors from japan and other countries, have been able to move forward on schedule. it is really surprising given

the climate and conditions they are working in. despite the problems that some are trying to create, i don't know why someone is trying to create those >> i can see even from today that the project will be implemented. as we implement this project, certainly, infrastructure will be needed. we will come to that, the sooner the better. someone from the east. good afternoon, mr. putin:

--kurdistan 24 channel. i have a question. know, kurds play a key role in fighting international terrorism. and russia is playing a very major role in the middle east now. 's stance onrussia the iraqi kurds have it taken steps to -- pendent -- independent

independence? > kurds have their own difficult past. then only reaffirm that kurd units have been courageous in fighting international terrorism. they have been really efficient in the battles. we proceed from the premise that we need to act in accordance with international law. ultimately, the rights of the kurds, legitimate rights will be insured, but what will be the form? it depends on the rack -- it depends on iraq.

be in contact with , but we willurds not interfere in the diplomatic affairs of iraq. go with an online publication. >> thank you for this opportunity. we talked about patriotism today a little. this word has been used a lot this year. is, is thestion state may be overzealous in terms of patriotism.

of patriotism? there was the incident in moscow .nd off -- onsk it is hard when hooliganism can be called patriotism. we take our hooligans and call them patriots? torture, youimal talked about the rights of the but there are some animals that don't have owners. the should be taken from streets. the girl should have a harsher

punishment for their action. >> that wasn't the main take away from my statement. find the, we need to most humane principles. ofmust provide some kind civilized system. in instances where wild animals attack children, local authorities cannot turn a blind eye to it. as for patriotism, the russian government supports patriotism. we have no other unifying force. should we differentiate between good and bad hooligans? no. we need to distinguish between common sense actions from the

scum that you have around it. thehould not only rely on phobias we have from the media space. we need to remember that incidents with the exhibition, perhaps no one would have paid attention to it if it is not been attacked. the photographer was charged in the u.s., but he thought he could do in russia what is unacceptable in the united states. the response was not that , but certainly you have a different government agencies that need to take decisions. the community needs to have some kind of checks and balances.

we talked about that at the recent council. .t was the council on culture there have been other questions "jesus christof superstar" opera. right?s in onsk, tickets andld 46 that is why the organizers of that opera decided not to go ahead with it. to bend things in the modern world so you do not go down that road.

we need a constant dialogue with the community. education maybe. therennel one, mr. putin, hospices available in our country. moscow hospice has been available for only a you years -- for only a few years. the construction is very slow.

it is only due to charity funds that this is proceeding and some children don't have enough time to wait while it is completed. maybe the government should help considering it is about children. >> probably. the project was initiated by charities. certainly a sensitive question. we always support a project like this. just recently, i granted an award to a priest who devoted all his life to it. certainly, the government isn't doing a lot in this area -- certainly the government is doing a lot in this area. if a charity starts a project, then they have to finish it.

you can't really start something and then ask for help, but to certainly-- but we need to focus more on it. one and ient channel hope that the municipal authorities will pay more attention to it. justice,d juvenile what is meant by that? >> good afternoon.

in a meeting there was a without a public juvenile systems will not be designed after the western standard. our system is the same as in scandinavia. in article 116, your decision was implemented in a very strange way. so, now the standard is that

there are individuals to whom different standard are applied. hurts his child, he gets a sentence of over two years but if a neighbor does it he does not get punished. we are trying to get signatures to stop the child protection system of the western standard. and every one of those letters contains a request to meet with you. even now, i have parents behind my back. best not to slap children.

certainly, you have this practice, but children depends completely on parents. certainly there are a lot of other ways to educate your child without laughing -- educate your child without slapping him. -- i am against those excesses of child protection practices. my instruction was completed. i just got a report that it was indeed done. let's revisit the issue. certainly such interference in family affairs is unacceptable. alexander damas.

>> i have a question. , you appoint people from your close circle to the positions of government. i met with mr. marotta -- he is the acting governor. the continuation of this tradition started a few years ago when you appointed mr.

--i also met with the youngest acting governor of kaliningrad program. he is only 30. is this on purpose? practice -- are you going to carry on with this practice of appointing governors this way? what is the reason? do you not trust the local government? and ourass media newspapers, we discuss this question that maybe mr. putin is

so,ing these people and, if why? plans have some long-term and what are they? the welfaregoal is of russia. you have to boost defense and the economy. we need the right type of. we have 85 regions and just mentioned three. is it part of any trends? role?hey played any key so, you asked do we trust local politicians? yes, the vast majority of russian regions, you have

governors who come from those regions. certainly in cases where you need to find someone new, someone from the outside, and this is supported by the people of that particular region. people say they need some kind of a reshuffle, a new lease. you mentioned three people. ore.e have been many m he was sent to the republic of comey. these are young people, efficient managers. so they have a lot of energy and a lot of promise. you know, they have a good reputation in term of -- in

terms of management. we look at the business qualities and the personal qualities and that makes us think they would be able to perform their duties in an efficient way. i rely on them to do that. as for their future, everything will depend on them. on their performance, on the way people will assess them. he worked for two months and 75% of the region voted for him. but that is not enough. i recently talked to the first woman in space and she thanked me for finding such a good

her region. this is a sign that the new assimilate trying to and settle down. from berlin? >> [speaking german]

ourk, as regards relationship with europe, i already covered that when i answered a question from your colleague from poland.

it is not because of us that the relationship between russia and your, russia and germany went sour. -- the relationship between ope, russia and germany sour. we would happy to list all these sanctions. liftr european partners their anti-russian sanctions, we will respond in kind. let's take an objective look at what happened and how we got here. first, our u.s. friends and were part ofnds the agreement between the

president. day.seized power the next instead of asking them to respect the treaty that was cosigned by the foreign ministers of three european countries, they supported this anti-constitutional coup. people in crimea wanted to go back to russia and this caused this bloody conflict. was based onragedy the fact that they could not coordinate their .ositions on ukraine these are purely economic issues. how can you take an issue and

escalated -- escalate it into this kind of conflict? you forbeen talking to years trying to negotiate the parameters of this agreement. needed toent said he talk to russia and coordinate some of the parameters. we need the russian market. our european partners said no and the rest is history. how can you do such a thing? we don't think it is our fault. what happened then? what is still going on? under the coup, pretext of joining this

association agreement, immediately they postponed the agreement right away. they did accept what unicode vich asked them to do. a year later, they made the decision to ratify and then put it on the back burner again. now europe does not want to ratify this agreement. i do not know what to say about this situation. free travelof visa for ukrainians, again, it is questionable. ukrainianalways bring labor markets to europe and they will be disadvantaged there.

it would be good to do it together in a calm way without agitation. this is the kind of relationship we would like to have with europe. we would like to work together against the issues we are facing today. this is also in regards to terror. our hearts go out to the victims in berlin. when we marked the 75th anniversary of the united nations, i said we should all work together and have a united front. i said, how can you do that when you have sanctions and counter sanctions? how can we work effectively to

fight terror? as a result, we suffer attacks. i hope we will be able to restore this cooperation in the future. another journalist from the kremlin pool. , what would you say if you were asked whether or not you should for him -- whether or not you should become president again and the opposite? >> it is a provocative question. this guy is a provocateur.

my standardll get response. comes, i will take a look at the situation in the country and in the world. achieved,hat we have based on what we will be able to achieve, i will make a decision regarding whether i should run or not in the upcoming presidential election. >> good afternoon. sure you knowm about the controversial

center.n around the opinion on the discussion started by mr. mikel kpolh. center fored the distorting history. what would you say to the people who are angry this is done on state money? him.had a meeting with officials.other i guess that there are other issues that need to be studied further in further detail. specifically the issues related to the way information is presented regarding russia's

history. i am not only talking about the recent history like the now --ka years of until up until now. they agreed certain things need to be presented in a more accurate manner. there is one thing i don't like. i don't like to escalate the issues. there is nothing wrong with having a discussion. this is normal, this is proper, some may like it and some may not. some are more liberal and others are more conservative. we have always had the two trends.

we had westerners and russell ophiles. russ in the current situation when we 1970 -- back to 1917.- back to we will mark the anniversary of year.17 revolution next that is all i will say on that. what is your question? >> my question is about the environment.