MOSCOW (Sputnik) — This will be the 11th press conference Putin will have with Russian and international journalists during the three terms he has served as head of state. These large press meetings, held once a year, usually last several hours.
Almost 1,400 journalists have received accreditation for this year’s event, according to the Kremlin website.
This year, the questions are expected to center around the Russian economy, heavily reliant on crude, and how it will cope with the continuing slump in global prices, as well as the social rights of citizens and corruption.
Putin introduced the tradition of holding the annual press conferences in 2011. The longest conference of this kind took place in December 2008, with the president answering 106 questions in four hours and 40 minutes.
Last year, Putin answered 53 questions by 38 journalists from Russia and other countries. Most of the questions were related to the economic issues in the country. Some revolved around the Ukrainian crisis and the president’s personal life.
The president began last year’s event with a short speech, talking about the main Russian socio-economic indicators of 2014 and plans for the coming years.
The 2015 event will be broadcast on the Rossiya-1, Rossiya-24 and Channel One television channels, as well as the Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations.
