Vladimir Putin will run for a new presidential term in 2018. The head of state himself said this at a meeting with veterans and workers of the GAZ auto plant.

“Yes, I will run for the presidency of the Russian Federation,” said Vladimir Putin

The words of Vladimir Putin were greeted with applause. “Thank you for this reaction,” Putin said to the car factory team. “Thank you for your work, for your attitude to the case, for the country,” he continued. “I am confident that everything will turn out well for us,” the President stressed. The term of office of Vladimir Putin expires on May 7, 2018.

Vladimir Putin and Presidency

In 2018, Putin will participate in the election campaign for the fourth time as a presidential candidate. In case of victory, he will have to hold the post of head of state for another six years, from 2018 to 2024.

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Vladimir Putin was first elected head of the Russian state for a 4-year term in 2000. After the resignation of the first president of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, on December 31, 1999, he was appointed the acting president.

On January 12, 2000, the initiative group nominated him to take part in the early elections of the head of state, and a day later Putin agreed to run, as he reported in his native city – St. Petersburg, speaking at the St. Petersburg State University.

On his intention to run for a second term in the 2004 elections, Putin said during the “Direct Line” on December 18, 2003. This statement was made from a studio in Moscow, from where he answered the questions of Russian citizens.

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After the term end in 2008, Vladimir Putin did not have the right to qualify again for a top state post, since the Russian Constitution forbids one person to serve as a president for more than two consecutive terms. Putin was forced to resign for which his subordinate Dmitry Medvedev was appointed as the President of Russia.

On September 24, 2011, Medvedev invited United Russia to support Putin’s candidacy for the 2012 presidential elections. This initiative was put forward at the party congress in Moscow. Putin gave his consent, won the elections and, taking into account the updated legislation, took the term of the president by four years and not six.

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Until recently, Putin did not give an answer to the question of whether he would run for the presidency in 2018. In his view, the early announcement of such plans is bad for the work of officials who are beginning to pay less attention to administrative activities, and more – to the election campaign.

In October 2017, during a session of the Valdai Discussion Club, Putin answered the question about the main overriding goal of the Russian president, who in 2018 will take office. He said that it is necessary “to make Russia very flexible and highly competitive.” “Flexible in terms of forms and methods of management, flexible from the point of view of developing the economy, looking to the future in terms of introducing the latest technologies, assessing these opportunities and their application,” he explained.

“We must, of course, strengthen our defenses, improve our political system, so that the living standard is developed in accordance with how the whole world is developing,” Putin added.

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