Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the Astrakhan Shipbuilding Production Association.

He examined an ice-strengthened derrick built for a Caspian Sea oil and gas field. LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov told Mr Putin that four major Caspian oilfields, soon to be opened, required at least one new derrick a year. When the Prime Minister asked where metal used for derrick construction came from, Mr Alekperov said it was from Severstal, the Magnitogorsk Steel Works, and other Russian companies.

Mr Putin also talked to factory workers.

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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the Astrakhan centre to see dilapidated residential houses and old plank barracks that had not yet been vacated.

He was shown one of the city's most notorious places - a rickety barrack known to local wisecracks as "The Leaning Tower of Pisa".

Mr Putin went next to the new Babayevsky neighbourhood to see two flats that would become the new homes of families from barracks within a few days.

He joined the young Moiseyev family - Yulia, Andrei, and their ten-year-old daughter Vika - to see their new accommodations together. It was a large and well-lit two-room flat on the first floor.

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon.

Andrei Moiseyev (showing him around the place): This is ... a beautiful place, isn't it? Large windows and everything! We still have a lot more luggage to bring before we move in properly.

Vladimir Putin: I see. You hurried to bring at least some things here to feel the place was really yours - right?

Andrei Moiseyev: Yes, it was several days ago.

Yulia Moiseyeva: Can we take a picture with you, Mr Putin?

Vladimir Putin: Of course. Do you work far from here?

Andrei Moiseyev: In the city centre.

Vladimir Putin: How long does the trip take?

Andrei Moiseyev: Half an hour or so. The traffic is fine - several bus routes have stops quite close to here, along with minibus taxis.

Yulia Moiseyeva: Vika's school is quite close, too.

Vladimir Putin: Over there?

Andrei Moiseyev: Yes, next door.

Vladimir Putin: That's good.

Andrei Moiseyev: It's a good school.

Vladimir Putin: Are there any shops nearby?

Andrei Moiseyev: I am not sure, but there is a large shop somewhere here, if I am not mistaken.

Astrakhan Region Governor Alexander Zhilkin: Yes, there's the shop. More shops will be built on that side. It's in the master plan.

Vladimir Putin: So there is a shop, a clinic...

Yulia Moiseyeva: The clinic is next door.

Alexander Zhilkin: Another one will be built because the neighbourhood is extending, and one clinic will be not enough. The bridge I showed you will be ready next year. The neighbourhood will then have two bridges, and it will be a seven minute trip to the city centre.

Vladimir Putin: Are there any sports facilities for children?

Alexander Zhilkin: Yes. We have a joint project with Gazprom - Gazprom for Children. It envisages playgrounds and a sports complex.

Vladimir Putin: That's good. (To the Moiseyevs) Good luck!

Mr Putin congratulated the family and gave them a gift of a refrigerator, which the Moiseyevs would receive for free using a certificate he gave them.

Mr Putin went up to the third floor next to visit Tatyana Volkova, a schoolteacher with a 36-year work record. She has moved in from the "Leaning Tower".

As he talked to her, he said that 14% of the Astrakhan Region's population still lived in dilapidated houses.

The federal Government allocated 4 billion roubles to the region for housing construction in 2007 alone, Mr Putin said. "This is what the money was spent on!" he added as he walked around the flat.

On Ms Volkova's request, he autographed one of her photo albums. He gave the teacher a gift of an air conditioner certificate.

* * *

As he was talking to employees of the general contractor of one of the new Astrakhan residential compounds, Mr Putin said he would sign a Government Resolution today stipulating that inventory checking after house commissioning would no longer be mandatory. The new arrangement would put an end to redundant paperwork and ease commissioning to bring construction costs down, he said. The order was drafted after construction workers asked him to disentangle red tape, which previously prolonged commissions of new houses for close to a year.

* * *

Mr Putin talked to the public in the new neighbourhood.

Vera Iosifovna: Mr Putin, my husband served in the army for 23 years, and retired as a senior warrant officer. His pension is a mere 3,700 roubles a month! Why do you increase only senior officers' pensions?

Vladimir Putin: They are increased for everyone. 35,000 people are already getting pensions according to the new system, with a sizable rise.

Vera Iosifovna: Please pay attention to non-commissioned officers. My husband was a senior. He served in difficult conditions. He often travelled by freight car!

Vladimir Putin: We are shifting to a new system, with salary and pension increases for all who do the most for national defence-airmen, sailors, special missile forces, and all the best servicemen.

Vera Iosifovna: My husband retired ten years ago.

Vladimir Putin: The new system is for officers in active service. Their pensions will rise with the salaries.

Vera Iosifovna: He also gets a recreation and medical treatment allowance. It is 600 roubles a month! Were the people serious when they appointed such sums, with the current prices? We have written a complaint to Moscow.

Vladimir Putin: How old is your husband?

Vera Iosifovna: Going on 50.

Vladimir Putin: Is he employed?

Vera Iosifovna: Yes, he is a watchman. His monthly wage is 4,300 roubles. Don't believe it when they say that the average monthly wage in Astrakhan is 15,000 roubles!

Vladimir Putin: Is it less?

Vera Iosifovna: Much less!

Vladimir Putin: I have just visited the shipbuilders-they earn an average of 25,000 a month.

Vera Iosifovna: I have another question. In the Soviet years, maternity leave could last till the child reached 14 years of age. It's all gone now!

Vladimir Putin: Up to 14, you say?

Vera Iosifovna: Yes, that's what is recorded in my employment history. Now, it has been abolished-why? And one could spend up to two years studying as an unbroken work record was preserved.

Vladimir Putin: Was it a paid 14-year maternity leave, you mean?

Vera Iosifovna: No, it was for an unbroken record of service. Why was it abolished?

Vladimir Putin: That was done in the early 1990s. Let us think about work records.

Vera Iosifovna: Please do!

Voice: We have another problem. Many young people don't want to marry because they have no home.

Vladimir Putin: But housing construction is going on.

Voice: When will people from dilapidated houses get new accommodations?

Vladimir Putin: Do you know how many people live in such houses in Astrakhan?

Voice: I do.

Vladimir Putin: Just how many?

Voice: Very many.

Vladimir Putin: Astrakhan received allocations from leftovers in the Soviet years. It could not afford to build anything at all. Look at your canals-they are all overgrown with weeds!

14% of the region's residents lives in dilapidated houses-80% of them in Astrakhan. Imagine what it costs to give them all new housing. We allocated 4 billion roubles in 2007 alone-more than the city had ever received.

Vera Iosifovna: Slums must be torn down!

Voice: Will anything at all be built for young families? We need at least a glimmer of hope!

Vladimir Putin: That's a question for the governor.

Alexander Zhilkin: We have launched a relevant programme, and 600 young families got new flats last year.

Vladimir Putin: Is the programme subsidised?

Alexander Zhilkin: We are subsidising 60%.

Vladimir Putin: 60% of what?

Alexander Zhilkin: Of the housing cost. Now you know there is such a programme, and you are welcome to apply.

Voice: When will the new bridge be ready?

Vladimir Putin: Next year.