08:14, 02-Mar-2018
Russia State of The Nation Address: Putin vows to beat poverty, build up infrastructure
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We start in Russia. President Vladimir Putin delivered his state of the nation address before the presidential election on March 18th. He promised to halve the poverty rate within six years and provide more jobs.
VLADIMIR PUTIN RUSSIAN PRESIDENT "As a consequence of the economic crisis, poverty has grown again. Today it affects 20 million citizens. Of course, it is not 40 million people as in the year 2000, but it's still an unacceptable number."
Putin promised to double spending on roads to nearly 2-billion US dollars. And he said a new bridge linking the Russian mainland with Crimea -- which was annexed in 2014 -- will open within a couple of months.