Meeting with deputies of the 8th State Duma

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, friends.

This meeting marks the completion of the eighth State Duma’s term.

The past five years, which incidentally were the period of your tenure, were difficult and extremely challenging for our country. It is, without any exaggeration, one of the decisive stages in our Fatherland’s history, when the very fate, the future of our people is at stake, — and it really is not an exaggeration, — and when the contours of a new world order are being shaped in a struggle and intense competition.

I would like to thank you for efficient cooperation, above all in strengthening Russia's sovereignty and protecting the country’s national interests.

Today, we continue to protect the security and independence of the state, the truth and justice. Participants in the special military operation are fighting heroically for Russia and their ancestral home. Our entire nation and society support them. We will achieve our goals and do everything for victory and for Russia.

(Applause.)

Multi-ethnic and diverse, our nation stood up to these historical challenges and the aggressive external pressure by consolidating from within. We have always followed this path and this is what we are witnessing today. The State Duma deputies have fully lived up to their high status of people’s representatives, demonstrating unconditional loyalty to the Motherland, consummate professionalism, and firmness. They worked quickly and efficiently to discuss and make difficult decisions, adopt laws required by our soldiers and commanders, defence companies, factories, Russia’s economy and social sphere, and, naturally, the entire society and state.

Faced with this challenging environment, you were professional and confident when working with our colleagues from the Federation Council and the Government, the Presidential Executive Office, and from the regions of the Russian Federation.

All members of the State Duma and all its parliamentary groups made a meaningful contribution to these efforts, including the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, A Just Russia, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, the New People party and of course United Russia, the majority party. As a ruling party, it bears special responsibility for the legislative process and its smooth, regular and constructive operation in a consolidating spirit.

In this connection, I would like to place a special emphasis on the ability of various political forces to work as a single team. In fact, two thirds of the almost three thousand pieces of legislation you adopted over these years were supported by all parliamentary groups.

A comprehensive social safety net has been established and is now being developed further for special military operation participants and veterans as well as their families.

Members of parliament formed a single front when adopting laws on Russia’s reunification with our four historical regions: Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. They became constituent entities of the Russian Federation in their own right as part of a single country where they belong.

The actual aspirations and will of the people, citizens of Russia, guide us in our strategic decisions. This is our only objective, and this is what those who deny their people their right to self-determination and tracing their own path hate so much. They start referring to the UN Charter whenever this serves their interests. Today, they opted for skipping its first article on the right of nations to self-determination. Those who are used to treating other countries as obedient and voiceless subordinates rather than equal partners always stand to benefit from these double standards. But we can see through all these developments.

We have long been facing illegal restrictions, pressure, and attempts to contain us: it happened after the Crimean Spring of 2014, but it also happened earlier. However, in 2022, the West kicked the Russophobia machine into high gear – and it keeps setting world records in two categories: the number of the so-called sanctions, their inefficiency, and the damage that these sanctions are causing primarily to the people who designed and initiated them in the first place, as well as the people of some European countries and even beyond.

Wishing to shake up the Russian state and split people apart in our country, they attempted to strangle our economy, the financial and banking system, and to undermine our capabilities in research and manufacturing, and education. Moreover, unable to defeat Russia on the battlefield, they are staking on flagrantly terrorist methods of fighting against our people. But the people of Russia will never bend to anyone’s will. It has never happened and it will never happen.

(Applause.)

Our political system and institutions of power stand on the principles of sovereignty and in full compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation. They are ready to defend our country and, together with our society, are capable of decisively resisting any hostile actions.

Colleagues, I would like to thank you for promptly adopting effective anti-sanction measures, for prioritising the state’s social obligations to our people, for paying special attention to demographic issues and supporting families with children, for focusing on developing healthcare, education, culture, and the patriotic upbringing of new generations based on the traditions, spiritual and moral values.

As challenging as it is sometimes – we are indeed going through a difficult period – we have not forgotten throughout these years to address matters dealing with the wellbeing of our citizens.

Members of parliament have traditionally been making a proactive and meaningful contribution to shaping Russia’s budget policy. I am confident that, when working on the budget for the next three years, alongside strengthening the country’s defence, you will prioritise urgent social tasks and also support the key sectors of the economy, the leading Russian companies, small and medium-sized businesses, as well as the labour market, where the unemployment rate, as you know, has dropped to a historic low.

At the same time, we are not only adapting to new conditions and confidently overcoming the artificial external barriers that are imposed on us. We have been working together to set forth major and ambitious, forward-looking goals to boost our people’s wellbeing, offer everyone more opportunities for fulfilling their potential, while also seeking to alleviate poverty, of course. Here, we have something to be proud of: there has been positive momentum, we are setting technological leadership tasks and, oddly enough, despite all the external restrictions, achieving the result we seek. We will keep working on all these matters.

During your tenure, a number of key legislative acts have been adopted, laying solid legal foundations for the future. Since last year, updated national projects and development programmes have been rolled out. Parliament is working closely with the Government of the Russian Federation to ensure these are properly supported in legislative terms.

This partnership has reached a new level. The unified system of public authority has strengthened, and accountability to the people has grown stronger. This has been further enabled by the State Duma’s new constitutional powers to approve the candidates for Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, and federal ministers. I can see that these mechanisms are functioning effectively and are contributing to the development of our statehood and the strengthening of Russia’s sovereign institutions.

Colleagues,

Elections to the ninth State Duma will take place in September. Many of you will be standing for re-election, and you will be meeting with constituents and with employees at enterprises across the country.

I would ask you to make the most of this pre-election period – to gather proposals and feedback from the public in a focused and productive manner, and then to translate those into practical parliamentary work. The foundation of that work lies precisely there, in the constituencies, in the strong feedback loop between the authorities and Russia’s broad, diverse and distinctive society. Its voice must be heard, and its concerns must always be addressed.

I am confident that the parliamentary parties will conduct the election campaign with due respect for our voters and, of course, for one another. Political culture has clearly matured and improved over recent years, including during your time in this chamber. I trust that this will be put to good use in the months ahead.

I also trust that all of you will continue to value the consolidation of the leading political forces that we see today. That unity is the key to continuity in our shared efforts to achieve the country’s national development goals.

I wish you every success.

Thank you very much.

(Applause.)

* * *

Ceremony to present state decorations.

Vladimir Putin: I would like Mr Volodin to speak, as he is the recipient of the respective state decoration.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin: Mr President,

Thank you very much for your high appreciation of the work of the State Duma and its deputies.

Over the past five years, the State Duma has passed 2,980 laws. More importantly, however, we have become a truly united team, fully aware of our responsibility to the country and its citizens. I would like to thank you for this, because we constantly feel the President’s support. The ongoing dialogue with the leaders of the parliamentary factions and with the State Duma as a whole has been invaluable. Your support has enabled us to accomplish a great deal.

It would also be fair to say that you have consistently done everything possible to promote the development of parliamentary democracy. This month marks the 25th anniversary of the law on political parties, which was adopted at your initiative. You chose the path of building a competitive multi-party system, and today we can already judge how effective that decision has been. We live in a free and open country with a political system that has proven its effectiveness in responding to challenges and demonstrated its resilience.

In 2016, you made the decision to entrust the leadership of several key parliamentary committees to representatives of the opposition factions. At first, even those of us in the majority had our doubts. We thought: if United Russia holds the parliamentary majority, why should opposition parties chair these committees? But time has proved that it was absolutely the right decision. We began to listen to one another more closely, and the opposition factions were given the opportunity to engage fully in legislative work, immersing themselves in it on an equal footing with representatives of the parliamentary majority. In the end, it fostered a shared sense of responsibility, and that united us. This proved especially important during this difficult period.

Your decision to delegate certain powers to the people by enabling them, through their elected representatives, to approve the composition of the Government has once again demonstrated how right that decision was. Previously, whenever problems arose or difficult decisions had to be made, we would often point the finger at the Government, saying, “It’s not us – they are the ones who are ineffective.” Following the constitutional amendments, however, Parliament now shares responsibility with the Government for the final outcome. This has enabled us not only to listen to one another more closely but also to make better decisions. As a result, 68.5 percent of the laws passed by the State Duma received the support of all parliamentary parties.

Mr President, thank you very much. I would like to emphasise once again that Parliament is united around the national development agenda and the President’s course. Together, we will prevail.

Thank you.

Chair of the State Duma Committee for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Nikolai Kharitonov: Mr President,

Colleagues,

As the elder statesman, or one of the eldest – there are three veteran parliamentarians in this room – we, together with the Presidential Executive Office, the Federation Council, and the Government, have been addressing the issues facing our country throughout this convocation. I think that we have made much headway. However, the main assessment in this regard is that of our voters and our population. There are many challenges ahead and we must deal with them collectively and in a concerted manner.

On behalf of all the deputies of this convocation, Mr President, I would like to wish you good health and a good mood. We are together and will certainly win.

Head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation political party’s parliamentary group in the State Duma Gennady Zyuganov: Mr President,

Comrade deputies and friends,

The eighth convocation of the State Duma was working under extreme conditions, where NATO and Anglo-Saxons have declared a war of extermination on the Russian World; a war has been declared on a 1,000-year-old civilisation that defended the much-vaunted Europe from invasions and full annihilation on three occasions. I am referring to Batu Khan, Napoleon, and Hitler. Not only did we stand our ground, we also showed the main thing that ensures victory – cohesion.

Mr President, we were primarily guided by the main tenet of your Address on ensuring the unity of action by all citizens in this country, by all parliamentary groups. It is not accidental, therefore, that we have unanimously passed 183 laws in support of those who are fighting courageously and valiantly on the battlefields. We had to reach the world rates and we have attained almost 5 percent, something that any Government can be proud of. We also had to do all we could to encourage the mastering of advanced new technologies. You have yourself shown an example of how this idea can be put into practice by supporting electronics, robotics, aviation, and the entire engineering industry.

Of late, however, the key rate that has been blown out of proportion and the taxes have made small and medium-sized businesses slow down and the economy in general lose momentum. We will do our best to conduct the dialogue that is needed during the upcoming election campaign. It should be constructive and maximally aimed at implementing your Address.

We have suggested a programme of victory and a development-geared budget, which can gain 10 trillion [rubles] more as early as next year. Our party’s 5,500 candidates are actively working with the population, and we hope for a significant support and promotion, and the implementation of your Address.

A victory is essential for all of us, and we will certainly win it. Let us wish success to our Supreme Commander-in-Chief and President, and clearly declare that we all will fight for this historic victory, without which both our people and the planet as a whole have no future.

Thank you. I wish you success.

Head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia’s parliamentary group in the State Duma – Chair of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky: Mr President,

Mr Volodin,

Colleagues,

We must admit that for five years we have been working in difficult conditions, yet it was not a period of sagging, as Mr Zyuganov said, but a period of consolidation and growth amid unprecedented sanctions pressure. When the country and the Russian world faced a moment of truth in our modern history, we stood shoulder to shoulder, regardless of our party affiliations, age, religion and place of residence. We rallied around you, Mr President, on the path to an impending victory in what I see as the last battle against Nazism in human history.

Colleagues, I should say that I feel that this gratitude from our President, the national leader of our Fatherland is meant not only for me but for our party as a whole, which has been moving all these years along the path set out by Zhirinovsky, the path of being reliable for every single person and household and facilitating an early solution. And that is precisely where our opposition stands today. It is not in pointing the finger at the “fifth column” but in moving shoulder to shoulder towards quickly and effectively fulfilling the tasks and solving the problems that people pose for us in these difficult times.

It should be said that there are many problems, but they are being effectively addressed because we are united and we are finding the right solution.

I would like to express deep gratitude to Vyacheslav Volodin, who has organised the work of the State Duma extremely efficiently at this difficult time, rallying us towards accomplishing the tasks you have set for us. Today, we will carry on many of these tasks into the next, ninth convocation of the State Duma, and we will work as our great leader, Zhirinovsky, taught us, that is, even more cohesively and efficiently for the benefit of the people who set out these tasks for us.

In conclusion, I would like to say a few words about parliamentary diplomacy. A new global majority has emerged in the world today. Our parliamentary diplomacy, or rather parliamentary democracy, as Mr Volodin put it, has become an instrument of consolidating the world’s nations around the ideas and principles which you, Mr President, outlined many times when speaking at various platforms, including in the past few years, so that every country, no matter how small, every nation and every free individual set their development course based on the interests of the people and their traditions, history, culture, religion and language, rather than on the opinion of someone in Washington.

Mr President, ahead of the feast day of your heavenly patron, Holy Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, I would like to wish you and all of us every success, the best of luck, and a swift victory.

Thank you.

Head of the A Just Russia socialist political party’s parliamentary group in the State Duma Sergei Mironov: Mr President,

Colleagues,

Thank you for this acknowledgement and recognition of my work. Thank you for presenting state decorations to my colleagues Alexander Babakov, Valery Gartung and Sergei Kabyshev. I think that this is the proper assessment of our joint work.

At the beginning of the eighth convocation, you wished to have as many laws drafted and supported by various parliamentary groups. As of today’s report by Mr Volodin, this is the case for every fourth law. I have no doubt that during its ninth convocation, the State Duma will achieve an even greater level of cohesion in its efforts.

Mr President,

I would like to thank you for everything you have been doing for Russia. We are pursuing the right cause, and victory will be ours!

Head of the New People party’s State Duma parliamentary group Alexei Nechayev: Mr President,

Colleagues.

Thank you for the recognition of our work. It is a great honour and an immense responsibility for us. I know that we have done a great deal, but we will have to do even more for securing Russia’s victory in the special military operation, and I am convinced that we will definitely achieve it.

I serve Russia.

Head of the United Russia National Political Party’s parliamentary group in the State Duma Vladimir Vasilyev: Mr President,

Friends,

Colleagues,

Comrades and fellow parliamentarians,

We heard so many important words which mark a very important event. Each of us is overwhelmed with emotion. I will try to express this feeling as briefly as I can.

I suggest that we wish every success to our President who brought us all together.

For Putin! For Victory! For Russia!

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.

Allow me to say just a few words to round up our ceremony and today’s meeting.

All of us are deeply engaged and immersed in the developments we are witnessing today. We all work on them in our own specific domains, while overall we all have a shared understanding of what is happening in the country and across the world, where Russia stands at this historical juncture. In fact, it has been advancing with dignity.

Of course, this is not the right time or place to have a debate, but still, I would like to say a few things. Over the past, say, three or four years, Russia, unlike other developed economies, has retained the fourth position in the world by purchasing power parity after China, the United States and India, and ranks first in Europe by this indicator. We have been demonstrating higher economic growth rates compared to the European Union too. Of course, we would like to achieve even better performance. There are risks, however, of higher inflation and the corresponding consequences. The current policy course offers several major advantages. What is its main strong point? The fact that the Russian economic and financial systems are sustainable. Sustainability is what matters the most since it enables us to develop manufacturing in general, including the defence sectors while also addressing social matters.

Let me share a secret with you, but I hope that our colleague will not hold it against me. During the presentation of state decorations, one of the recipients whispered the following words into my ear: “We will win. But we must be bolder. Cannot wait for this to happen.” This begs a question of whether we can be even bolder. Here, just as with the economy, there are risks which could result in more casualties for us on the battlefield. Therefore, we will exercise caution in these efforts too, while remaining assertive and consistent in seeking to achieve the objectives the country has. We will achieve them.

Finally, this is what I wanted to say to conclude my remarks. This may be a challenging and defining historical stage for Russia. This is quite obvious and members of the State Duma, the Government of Russia, the Presidential Executive Office and heads of the regions are not the only ones who understand this today. Every citizen of the Russian Federation understands this.

We are in this combat stage, and members of parliament represent their voters, which means that they represent the people of Russia. This is what it means for a government institution to be representative. Looking back at your performance, I would like to say that members of parliament can feel pride for what you achieved since you form a force that fights for our people.

Thank you for your work and I wish you all the best. Thank you.