MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that in Soviet times he was occasionally cheated by vendors, but always chose not to make a scene.
"Well, of course," he said in reply to a question while being interviewed for the TASS project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin". He added, though, that he preferred "not to lock horns", so the swindlers usually got away with it.
"You know, there was not much you could do during Soviet times. You got swindled, cheated and just lived with it… First of all, it's not like I got cheated every day, but if I happened to notice it, there never was anything too serious. I preferred not to lock horns. Making a scene is not a good idea, just isn't worth it," he said.
Asked if he tended to look at retail venders as potential cheaters, Putin said that such an attitude was part of the people’s mentality.
"I am part of the same people, you know. So, honestly speaking, we all think so," he explained with a smile.
Episode 12 of the video interview is available at https://putin.tass.ru/en.
