Q: Everyone in Russia is saving. What do you save?
A: Time.
"The country is in good shape. It could do nothing for four months, and continue existing," Putin says.
Q: Will [former Finance Minister] Aleksei Kudrin write the new economic program?
A: He is ready to help. We agreed that he would be more active in the presidential expert council. He will deal with issues about development strategies.
"Russia didn’t leave Syria and [abandon] it," Putin says. Russia left the Syrian Army in the state where it is able to continue its operations with the Russian troops that remain there.
Russians from all over the country are complaining that their wages aren’t paid on time -- or at all.
Putin blames falling oil prices and the unwillingness of companies to lay off workers.
Putin denies that pharmacies only carry expensive foreign medication. "The government is dealing with the issue constantly," Putin says.
The Power Vertical Weighs In:
So we're 30 minutes in and here are my initial impressions.
1) Domestic issues trump foreign policy. So far, by my back-of-the-envelope count, there have been 11 questions about domestic issues (roads, wage arrears, medicine, inflation) and just two about foreign affairs (terrorism, Syria). Not one question about Ukraine.
2) Putin looks flat, like his heart's not really in it this year.
Still a lot of time to go, but that's my initial take.
-- Brian Whitmore
A pharmaceutical executive is in the audience. He says that Russian producers can’t afford to make cheap drugs because the materials come from abroad and are very expensive.