Putin: Fall In Oil Prices Will Not Affect Pensions And Wages

Vladimir Putin is convinced that the fall in world oil prices will not affect pensions and Russians' wages. The government "will do everything it can so that they aren't affected," declared the President, speaking on Monday in a direct broadcast. Vladimir Putin said that the Russian budget had been calculated "on a so-called pessimistic outlook of developments on the raw materials domestic market, including oil and gas". The drop in prices, according to him, "has not really scared us." Although the President admitted, if prices fell extremely low and continued to fall for a long period then, "we will have a complicated situation with the budget." "However, we will fulfil our social commitments to the population," said the head of state, recalling that in 2002 we are providing a quarterly index pension. "And we will carry it out," declared the President.