If we continue to curb inflation and keep it down to, say, 4 we will settle the situation with tariffs. Lets move on to other areas. Like the chinese say, that is true. Good afternoon, mr. Putin. Im from the website. I have a question that our people are very concerned with. We have a lot of problems and traffic jams. Its the only city in europe that doesnt 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. So, whats 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. Well look at the proposal that has been coming out to the region. We can do this project if we can for the region. We know there has been a lot of pressure on the environment. As for coal everyone has been saying we need to switch to alternative energy sources. Everybody is working on that, including hydrogen and wind and solar energy too. We are into it. Just recently, i went to a plant. Theyve been implementing hightech technology. The European Commission reduced substitutes to the industry because it is extremely expensive. We need to modernize and improve the technology. For miners and other workers, the world uses much more coal than oil and gas. I think even more than oil and gas combined. Coal remains an integral part of the world energy system. A considerable part. You rightly said we need to improve technology to decrease the impact on the environment. I know your region is moving in that direction. Many enterprises switching to new hightech processes technology. So that they could create a coal powder that is used. Im 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 through downs, but im sure it will have a bright future. Following up on that question, id 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. So, 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 average internationally, but the 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. Well, the ministry gave its 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. Now, how our economy will respond as opposed to oil cuts. Well, we 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 until june. 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. If the situation stays this way, the effect for the country, the budget will be like this. If the price goes up by 10, the budget will receive an additional 1. 74 trillion ruble in revenue. Oil companies will get additional 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 eight 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 members of this cartel. We will stay in contact with opec and honor our commitments. At the same time, we are free to 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 members and nonmembers. Perhaps, go to the central sector. Please do not interfere with the cameramans work. Good afternoon, mr. Putin. For our newspaper, editorinchief. First of all, id like to thank you on behalf of our leaders 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 semioccupation, we are not going to. We agree totally. We think there are some problems, domestic problems in our country. That we could probably characterize in the following manner recently, mass media uses a phrase that has an adjective as hybrid informational. The second word is war. So, our people have a good memory and remembers our history. We went through some wars where we came out as winners. The first thing we remember is the second world war. Making parallels to the Current Situation, id like to ask you a question. Now our economy, our industries and our governmental bodies acts in accordance with the decisions made by International Organizations and consulting from international companies. So, we learned about the foreign agents and foreign influence. First, the issue with consulting remains. Our readers have been wondering should we be doing that here as well . Beside on our own, what to do and which way to go. It is not only about the economy, it has to do about ideology as well. The question raised here the influx of imports of various kinds results in a lot of problems that we have mentioned today and it affected our traditional values. So, we think that we need import substitution in this area. Recently, this question has been becoming more and more urgent. What are the measures being taken . President putin this is extremely important. We all know what people think traditionally, but kazahkstan has always been this way. I can remind everybody that during the 1812 war, they 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 selfsufficient as well. Credit cards. There are many things that we 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. Rating agencies 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. Otherwise, it makes no sense to have such companies. If we get rid of those Foreign Companies that are respected in our country and internationally, our businesses will suffer because what the assessments provided by Russian Companies is nobody is going to respect their opinion if they cant prove their competitiveness. We have been there before and we will see fall in investment. We will certainly work on that. I guess you were going to ask about difficulties and the tragedies of the past of the plane crash, right . What are you going to ask about . Good afternoon. Im 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. So, if europe is weaker, is this beneficial for russia . Is russia going to use this in its own interest . President putin lets start with your first question first. Yes, the investigation is underway. Now, the second question, lets 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 transcript and this man who went into the cockpit, i dont 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 president ial aide, said do 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 create 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. But, when we build our 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 said all european nations are nations but not all of them realize that. I dont agree with this idea because you have great nations in europe. I dont 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 they have sovereign nations with a small infrastructure or a quasifederal 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 dont 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 decisionmaking process more. They dont 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, 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. This is what matters to us, but if we dont 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 some countries, it is important but some it is not. Armenia manages to benefit from it. Farmers went bankrupt. One more question this one is about russia. So, you remember that there were girls with tortured animals. We have a human right 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, pet owners, people have rights. Humanitarian issues, humane treatment of animals, this is a separate issue. Of course, we need that as well, but that is a separate matter. There are proposals to introduce a tougher punishment and tougher regulations and i would support that. There should be some regulations enforced. We should not go to extremes. It has to be reasonable. To the first part of your question, i think all the members of the eu benefit from what we do as far as integration is concerned. Actually, they have their difficulties, yes. Specifically because of certain issues they have with kazakhstan, with russia, sanitary regulations. But overall, it increased just like some other countries. I wont mention specifically right now, but there was a huge increase for belarus. Their exports to russia have increased dramatically. This is 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. We provide necessary assistance to our friends to help them set up a sanitary control system. We expect our partners will also help with that, including financial and administrative and professional assistance so that there is a sanitary control system as well. So we dont have any imports coming that would be hazardous or dangerous in any way to our people. There are ways to do that and it can be taken care of quite quickly. Drt channel. Accused of mortal sin in the west. Russia today. Thank you. Good afternoon, mr. Putin. Id like to talk about democracy. In the context of the president ial 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 president ial election. Whats wrong with democracy . Is democracy a good thing . Another question that im concerned about personally recently, a person was convicted for seven years for treason. Do you think this is adequate punishment for the text 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. But, i do believe that this verdict was quite tough. Im not sure of the details. Was it just a text she sent . She wrote what she saw and everybody saw that. This means it was not that big of a secret. Im 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. Dont 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 dont 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. The ruling i think it is until january 20, right . The democratic party, they clearly forgot have forgotten the essence of what this means to be democratic. They have been using administrative clout without shape. Like, encouraging people to disobey voter decisions, electors to vote 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 lets go over there now. Lets go. For example, a question about chess. I think we need to change the subject. Lets talk about chess now. Thank you for this chance to ask a question. The all of russia was cheering when he was going through the matches with the current world champion. So, the support was promised not only during the Big International event, but even at the regional level. There should be a tournament established. In my native land, we dont see any support for chess. We have a very good chessplayer, but when he suggests that we should have a chess club, he 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 dont 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. It is up to local authorities or maybe even a specific school to decide that, but we certainly should be proud of our history in chess. We know that we have had people, top chess players, and the players we have today, we are proud of our chess players. You know, we have this talented school in sochi. We have a chess section there. 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. As for sergei, he really played well but Magnus Carlsen is the top layer of our time. Our chess player was good as well. He performed very well. Hes a real fighter. I really believe that he will win sooner or later. What is your question about . First row please. Thank you. To crimea and back. So, one of my colleagues here asked about this bridge, but there is no official name. Some people call it the crime