- By Carl Schreck
Editor in chief of Russia's state-funded RT network suggests boosting the population by giving citizenship to people living in areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
Says many of those living in poverty are pensioners, broken families, families with many children, families where a member has a serious illness.
Says overcoming the demographic crisis and rising mortality rates means combating poverty.
- By Carl Schreck
A skeptical voice here:
"Every year Putin delivers an address about stability, the rising income of citizens, and other achievements of the superpower. And the ungrateful people for some reason continue to get poorer and poorer."
In focus, at start of Putin's speech: His immediate accent on domestic issues. But will a Western-directed diatribe also fit in?
Says Russia must eliminate shortage of spaces in nursery schools entirely.
Calls for eliminating VAT for construction companies building residential and public buildings.
Calls for making it easier for families to get mortgages to build their own homes on their own land, instead of just for buying existing homes.
Current policy only subsidizes mortgages for first three to five years. Putin calls for extending them for the entire life of the mortgage.
Calls on Central Bank to help reduce mortgage rates for families with more than one child.