During his working visit to the Kurgan Region, Viktor Zubkov visited the Karpunins family in the village of Glinki together with census taker Lyudmila Kolupayeva and reporters, as previously agreed by the family.

"We have seen today that people in rural areas welcome the census, which is important, as the previous census was taken eight years ago, in 2002. This year, the census will help to adjust our forecast for the country's socio-economic development and to amend federal and regional budgets to build new housing, medical centres and schools. The census will also reveal what additional measures are needed for the social development of rural areas," Mr Zubkov said after visiting the Karpunins.

The first deputy prime minister noted the high professionalism of census taker Lyudmila Kolupayeva. "She is a top professional, who has been working in the local school for over 20 years, so has the right experience to work with the people. Everyone here knows her and I'm sure she will have no problems with this job," he added.  

Mr Zubkov said that 38 million people live in Russia's rural areas, or about 27% of the country's total population. About 96,000 census takers are working in rural areas.