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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Russia's Putin hosts TV phone-in | Russia's Putin hosts TV phone-in |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is holding a nationwide question-and-answer broadcast, which is focusing on economic issues. | |
| He said Russia would not allow a sharp fluctuation of the rouble currency, and added that the state may take stakes in troubled banks and firms. | |
| A Conversation with Vladimir Putin is being filmed at a studio in Moscow in front of a 400-strong audience. | A Conversation with Vladimir Putin is being filmed at a studio in Moscow in front of a 400-strong audience. |
| People from across Russia have put questions to the former president. | |
| Last year, a million questions were submitted in advance, the Kremlin said. However, all were screened and none were considered overtly hostile to him. | Last year, a million questions were submitted in advance, the Kremlin said. However, all were screened and none were considered overtly hostile to him. |
| Annual tradition | Annual tradition |
| This year Mr Putin has touched on economic issues, relations with the US and energy supplies. | |
| He warned Russians there would be hard economic times ahead, but reassured them it would not compare with the collapse of the early 1990s. | |
| "It will be a difficult period for the world economy and also for ours," he said. | |
| "We remember that not so long ago in the early 1990s we had problems like keeping the territorial integrity of the country. Industry was in total collapse as well as the social system. Today the country is in a much better shape." | |
| The BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow says that perhaps the most significant thing about the "conversation" is not the questions, but the person who is answering them. | |
| When Mr Putin was president, the broadcast became an annual tradition. | When Mr Putin was president, the broadcast became an annual tradition. |
| Mr Putin left the Kremlin in May, after being obliged under the constitution to step down after two consecutive presidential terms. | Mr Putin left the Kremlin in May, after being obliged under the constitution to step down after two consecutive presidential terms. |
| But it is he, not his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, who will take to the airwaves again this year, our correspondent says. | But it is he, not his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, who will take to the airwaves again this year, our correspondent says. |
| Many will see that as a sign that it is Mr Putin, and not Mr Medvedev, who wields the real power in Russia, he adds. | Many will see that as a sign that it is Mr Putin, and not Mr Medvedev, who wields the real power in Russia, he adds. |
| Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the session, which started at midday local time (0900 GMT), would "certainly last more than two hours" and focus on social issues and the financial crisis. | |
| Some of the questions were published in advance on a government website. Most of them concentrate on the state of the economy. | |
| One asks whether young families will get help with mortgages; another asks why petrol prices have fallen by so much less than oil prices. | One asks whether young families will get help with mortgages; another asks why petrol prices have fallen by so much less than oil prices. |
| However, our correspondent says there is no sign yet of the one question which many world leaders would presumably love to hear answered - whether Mr Putin plans to return to the presidency. | However, our correspondent says there is no sign yet of the one question which many world leaders would presumably love to hear answered - whether Mr Putin plans to return to the presidency. |