Putin sets example as Russians embark on first post-Soviet census

MOSCOW, Oct 9 (AFP) - Millions of Russians prepared Wednesday to answer questions in the country's first post-Soviet nationwide census, with President Vladimir Putin setting a televised example.

The eight-day operation began at 1900 GMT Tuesday in Russia's easternmost territory, the Kamchatka peninsula, but among the first to answer the census-taker's questions in the Moscow region were Vladimir and Lyudmila Putin at their home in the suburb of Novo-Ogarevo.

Wearing a roll-neck sweater, Putin smiled faintly when asked to give his full name, indicating in response to further questions that his profession was "serving the population" and that his present job was "president of the Russian Federation."

Officials are concerned that many Russians may try to avoid the census-takers or give false information, distorting the final results to be announced next year.

They have stressed that the information given by respondents will be confidential, and that questions pertaining to income will deal with sources rather than amounts.

Seated in his living room, Putin offered additional information to the effect that he was born on October 7, 1952 in the city of Leningrad, as Saint Petersburg was then known, was a Russian national whose mother-tongue was Russian, and that he also spoke German.

His wife Lyudmila said she spoke German, French and Spanish in addition to Russian.

The census, the results of which will not be known before next year, is attempting to take a snapshot of the Russian population following the political, economic and social upheavals that have intervened since the last census in 1989.

In particular it will seek to get a fix on the size of the population, known to be dwindling at an alarming rate.

Organisers are saying they are allowing for a margin of error of three percent, but opinion polls suggest that nearly one Russian in 10 plans to avoid taking part in the census.

Hoping to overcome traditional Russian mistrust of officialdom, organisers have said the questionnaires will only carry the initials of those surveyed, not their full names.

The forms, which will be written by hand, will be destroyed after the information is transferred onto a computer data system, which will not contain even the person's initials.

The questions cover a wide range of issues including nationality and ethnicity but not religion. For the first time, respondents will be allowed to define their ethnicity for themselves that than have it determined by officials.

Organisers are particularly interested in obtaining reliable information regarding immigration, given the porosity of borders and the population shifts that have taken place since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Tentative preliminary results are expected to be published by the end of the year.