OREANDA-NEWS. November 17, 2011. I would also like to welcome you. Clearly, we could not invite everyone who considers themselves veterans and pensioners here, to the Kremlin. Neither the Kremlin, nor the White House, that is the one we have here in Moscow, can accommodate all these people, there are over 30 million of them, 38 million, to be precise. So we decided to invite people from different regions who represent certain groups within this broader segment of society – pensioners. They include retired workers, ex-service personnel, and veterans of the Great Patriotic War, all of them honourable and respected people.

In this country we have always respected our elders, and our meeting today was designed not only as a demonstration of this respect – which goes without saying – but also as an opportunity for us to talk about problems, listen to your views, taking your advice and recommendations on board in a straightforward, open and free discussion. Thank you.