Real people were allowed on Sokolov's "Direct Line."

      Today, November 26, the region's head Alexander Sokolov is holding another "direct line" during which he talks about his and the region's achievements and also answers questions from Kirov residents. It should be noted that, unlike some previous "lines" where Sokolov was asked questions from the familiar information agenda — schools, kindergartens, roads, gasification and construction — to which the governor responded rather briefly with information from news posted on the regional government's website, this "line" featured calls from real citizens concerned about their own problems. However, callers mostly received similar answers: Sokolov instructed the official responsible for the particular issue — a minister or the head of the district or city — to look into the matter. For example, in response to a question from a representative of a large family who asked the governor why benefits are paid to children from age seven but nothing is received for their youngest child, who is now three, Sokolov said that representatives of the region's Social Fund would contact the man and sort it out.

      Then the host of the "direct line" read to the governor a question from social networks: why gasoline is constantly getting more expensive in the Kirov region. In response, the head of the region, rambling a bit, noted that there is not a very high level of competition among the companies that buy gasoline from the producer and sell it. "That's why prices are high," Sokolov said. But he immediately added that if you look at the Ministry of Energy's statistics, fuel prices in our region are average for Russia. "We would like there to be more companies in our region so that there is competition. Right now we are negotiating with three companies that could come into our region. Work with Tatneft is ongoing; we are in talks," Sokolov said. It should be noted that negotiations with the Tatar company have been underway since 2023 but so far have not led to anything.

      Another question asked of Sokolov concerned the participation of young footballers in the Youth Football League — the championship among boys from academies of professional football clubs in Russia. In answering, Sokolov began by expressing his "warm feelings" for the sport and said that "we managed to revive the team" ("Dynamo Kirov", editor's note). The governor then went on to argue that it is impossible to develop football without building a pyramid so that young athletes can look up to the successes and achievements of their older teammates. He added that recently, during his governorship, youth football has become many times more popular, has begun to develop, and boys have been joining it.

      While the VGTRK Vyatka call center was taking calls, the host decided to highlight Governor Sokolov's successes, noting that he has been in his post for more than three years, the midpoint has been passed, and one can sum up results that, in the host's words, are impressive. Among Sokolov's particularly impressive achievements as head of the region, the host mentioned the tunnel being built under the Trans‑Siberian Railway, the anniversary of the city of Kirov, many beautiful schools, road repairs, and asked which of all these achievements Sokolov considers the most important for himself. The governor replied that "the midpoint of the first term has been passed." "How things will go from here, how the voters, the citizens will decide, how the trust of the head of our state will be — we'll see," Sokolov said coquettishly.

      One of Sokolov's main achievements as governor of the Kirov region, he said, is the citizens' trust in the authorities. He noted that when he came to the region, his primary objective was precisely to restore people's trust in the authorities. "I believe that we have accomplished this task. This is confirmed by polls and studies," the governor said. Among his more modest achievements as head of the region, Alexander Sokolov named the development of industry and the construction sector, eight schools built and five under construction, the implementation of road projects, including the tunnel under the Trans‑Siberian Railway, and the change in the region's image at the federal level.