Moscow, 30 November: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's phone-in session this year will be based on the previous year's format, the prime minister's spokesman, Dmitriy Peskov, told journalists today.

He said that the live broadcast of the question and answer session would be ensured by the VGTRK state television and radio broadcasting company and that it would take place in Gostinyy Dvor (a commercial and entertainment venue just outside the Kremlin), as it did in 2008.

The phone-in session is expected to last about an hour and a half but the duration will depend "on the intensity", Peskov added.

The number of questions being submitted by telephone or on the internet is comparable to the number of questions collected last year, he said.

On the content of the most popular questions, he said that "there is a traditional assortment dictated by the agenda".

"There are numerous questions concerning the struggle against terrorism, the safety of public transport and details of the Nevskiy Ekspress (27 November train bombing) tragedy," Peskov said.

One other large section traditionally concerns living standards and housing and public utilities issues, he said.

This includes complaints over the failure of regional and federal authorities to take effective action, Peskov said.

The third group of questions are "conceptual, relating to particular sectors of the economy", he said.

Putin read out one such question at today's opening of the commission on the defence industry, Peskov said.

As for those taking part, Peskov said that these would include people with whom the prime minister had already had contact. "

Communication has been envisaged with people with whom Putin has already spoken earlier, in order to find out how effective the government's measures have been, what has not worked, what problems have persisted and where the situation has improved," he said.

Representatives from the regions will also come to Moscow, in addition to those present in the so-called contact points of contact across the country, Peskov said.

Questions from the Baltic states and other former Soviet republics will also be collected.

Peskov was sceptical about potential complaints by opposition parties over Putin's phone-in session. (passage omitted)

He also said that Putin had personally looked through almost every question addressed to him. "

It has become a tradition that Putin prepares for this event in the most serious way.

He asks ministries and other agencies to provide him with information, studies it thoroughly, analyses it and calls heads of ministries in the process and clarifies certain aspects," Peskov said.

(Putin's question and answer session with the Russian public is due to take place on 3 December at 1200 Moscow time (0900 gmt))

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