Putin, pledges to halt spiralling poverty

MOSCOW, June 15 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday promised to halt spiralling poverty and ensure people were properly paid and housed, in a marathon TV appearance ahead of a presidential election next year he is expected to contest.

Opinion polls show Putin would comfortably win another term in office if he decides to stand, but have also laid bare widespread political apathy and serious concerns about bread and butter issues such as low wages, rising consumer prices and substandard housing.

Putin, who will turn 65 this year, has dominated Russia's political landscape for 17 years and remains popular with many Russians. But low world oil prices and Western sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine have hit Russia hard, reducing the amount of money Putin can throw at domestic problems.

Putin used his annual televised question and answer session to try to reassure Russians that he would address the living standards issue, telling them that the economy had finally turned a corner and that things would get better.

"What does the objective data show? It shows that the recession in the Russian economy is over. We have moved to a period of growth," Putin told voters.

"Everything will be okay."

When asked to list his priority tasks, he named increasing productivity and wages, making sure that people no longer had to live in "huts," and tackling poverty.

The number of people living below the poverty line rose to 23.4 million last year, up from 15.5 million in 2013, according to the World Bank. It also said that 13.5 percent of the population are living on less than 10,000 roubles ($173.61) per month.

The average wage in April was 39,253 roubles ($681.47), according to the Federal Statistics Service, but Putin was confronted on Thursday by people who said they or people they knew earned as little as 3,600 roubles ($62.50) a month.

The annual event, which this year lasted for just under four hours covering almost 70 questions, are carefully stage-managed but Putin looked visibly taken aback when listening to some people talk about how little they earned or badly they lived.

In one such exchange a teacher in Siberia told him she was making just 16,500 roubles ($286.46) a month, a sum she said she was struggling to get by on. Putin said he was surprised because the average wage for teachers in her region should be twice that.

In another section, a woman who house had been flooded spoke to him by live link from home to complain that state funds needed to help her had not materialised.

Putin said he wanted to know what the local governor was doing about it.

"Where is the money?" said Putin. ($1 = 57.6005 roubles)