Protests across Russia force Putin to double increase in pension payments

President Vladimir Putin, forced on to the back foot by week-long protests by Russia's pensioners, doubled increases in pension payments and announced plans to reintroduce free travel on public transport.

Mr Putin admitted that his government had mismanaged the reform of the state aid system, which dated back to Soviet times.

"The reasons for the decisions taken by the government and parliament [on social reform] are clear. The question is how they are implemented on the ground," he told ministers at the first cabinet meet ing since the start of the protests.

"Both the government and regional governments did not fully carry out the task we spoke about - that is to ensure that in taking this decision we do not make things worse for the people most in need of the state's help."

The social security minister, Mikhail Zurabov, responded by pledging that payments to pensioners would go up by 240 roubles (£4.60) from March 1 instead of a 100-rouble increase originally scheduled for April.

The social reforms that came into force on January 1 replaced Soviet-era benefits, such as free transport and reduced energy bills for pensioners, with cash handouts, but many believe the payments are too small to make up for the lost benefits.

Thousands of pensioners have been rallying for a week in dozens of cities across the country to protest at the changes, staging pickets, blocking roads, and in some cases hijacking buses.

Looking for ways to end the chaos, Mr Putin also proposed a scheme that would restore free transport for pensioners, many of whom have to work to supplement their small pension (about 2,000 roubles a month) and rely on public transport to get to work.

The president stopped short of firing the minister responsible, despite threats by the minority opposition in parliament to prepare a vote of no-confidence against the government. Yesterday the Communist party gathered the 90 signatures required to table the vote.

The pro-Kremlin party United Russia, which toes the official line, holds more than 300 of the Duma's 450 seats, but analysts say the Communist party, with 48 seats, could be successful in tabling the vote if it wins the support of the leftwing nationalist party Rodina (Homeland) and independent MPs.