Putin admits daylight saving time problem, promises solution after monitoring
MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin has admitted problems related to the permanent daylight saving time in Russia and says the government will do the monitoring and decide which time to live by.
"Right time or wrong, the government will determine that in the monitoring governmental agencies are doing. A final decision will be based on the monitoring results," he told a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
"Certainly, there are problems and I can see them, I experience these problems the same as any other people: it is dark when we wake up and it is dark when we go to bed," he said
"There are also systemic problems with the upcoming sports events [in Russia] and their broadcast," the president said.
Russia will play host to World Soccer Cup matches, University Games and Olympic Games. "The competitions will be broadcasted and the time gap is large; it is three hours with Europe and four hours with the UK. The competitions will begin when a considerable number of prospective viewers will be still at work," he said.
"Representatives of international organizations have pointed to that," Putin said.
"Yet we should be guided primarily with the interests of our citizens," he added.
The decision of then President Dmitry Medvedev "was rooted in the opinion of a substantial number of our citizens, who said that the time shift was harmful for their health and certain agricultural sectors," Putin said.
"When he did that, the number of discontent people was even larger than the number of those who demanded the change," he said.