Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited a Kaliningrad maternity center where one of the babies contending for designation as the seven-billionth inhabitant of the planet was born.
Putin congratulated the mother of the newborn and gave her a certificate that the boy's parents can use to move into a bigger apartment from their two-room flat.
The mother of the baby, Pyotr, said that the boy is healthy and long-awaited. The Nikolayevs have two older children – a son of seven and a daughter of five. Putin held the baby and said he is “cute”.
“How did you manage to hit seven billion?” asked Putin.
“He managed. I am an ordinary mom but the baby is the seven-billionth child. That is his fortune,” the mother said.
The woman added that the conditions in the center that was opened in 2009 were very good and thanked the prime minister for opening new kindergartens and primary schools. “I’d like to thank you for the kindergarten and for the school with swimming pool that were opened recently. We all would like to get in there.”
Putin wished all the best and signed the certificate.
The baby was born on October 31 in Kaliningrad.
The UN has not formally designated a seven-billionth inhabitant and many different countries have marked the event. In the Russian cities of St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatksky, UN representatives handed out certificates to the parents of newborns who are "seven-billionth" candidates.
