Kremlin expects over 1 mln questions for Putin conference, each to be addressed later

MOSCOW. Dec 8 (Interfax) - The Russian president's joint big press conference and questions and answers (Q&A) session with citizens will have received more than a million questions this year, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

"During the program, no more than several dozens of questions can be answered, obviously, so the whole lot - and that's over a million questions, we can now say with confidence that we are going beyond a million, it's that massive - so this whole lot will now be processed by the All-Russian people's front in conjunction with the regions, heads of region, in conjunction with our monopolist-companies," Peskov said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.

Every question asked will be addressed subsequently, separately, he said. These questions will be resolved within a year, "but every question will be dealt with," Peskov said.

As to the format of the event, moderators will sit alongside the president and conduct, as is tradition, the Q&A session with citizens, while Peskov will be giving journalists the floor to ask their questions, he said.

"There will be moderators, as always they will sit together with Putin, they will be moderating the part concerning the Q&A session, i.e. questions from citizens, and myself will also be 'sitting on a perch of my own,' as I normally do, and I will be trying to moderate the president's communication with the journalists who will be in the audience," Peskov said.