MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The real income of the Russian citizens has recently declined and this is a cause for concern, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday during his annual "Direct Line"call-in session on Thursday.
"The real income of citizens has declined over recent years. And what it is especially alarming is that the number of people below the poverty line, whose income is lower than the minimum wage, has also grown," Putin said.
The Russian leader recalled that the worst situation in terms of poverty was seen in the 1990s, when almost third of Russians, or about 40 million of people, were below the poverty line, while the best figure was registered in 2012, when only 10.7 percent of the population was below the poverty line.
