During the four-hour meeting the President and members of the State Duma discussed current issues of the Russian domestic and foreign policy. The key issue was the upcoming review by the State Duma of the 2001 budget.
Mr Putin spoke on the results of his trips abroad.
The meeting also discussed the initiatives of the Duma parliamentary parties, in particular, equipping Russian schools with computers and Internet access, as well as a possible creation of a working commission to tackle the so called “2003 problem” – the year when Russia would face the peak of external debt payments and, according to the Duma deputies, the maximum demographic slump and dilapidation of basic production assets.
Participants in the meeting also discussed the situation with the NTV channel and revocation of assigned operating frequencies from a number of mobile operators.