Vladimir Putin’s speech:

Dear colleagues, Mr Gryzlov, thank you.

I am meeting with the United Russia’s parliamentary leaders tomorrow, but I came here today for a different reason – to express my gratitude, as the head of the Russian government, for your work and cooperation during the past four years.

You are holding your closing plenary meeting today. I would like to repeat that the government and parliament have worked in close contact with each other during these four years, as partners, and we have cooperatively addressed the most important challenges facing Russia.

I would like to express my gratitude to every member of the State Duma, regardless of the political or parliamentary party that they belong to. To all who stood here today, and to those who were unable to: thank you very much for your work.

I would like to thank you for your cooperation, for your businesslike discussion of the key issues of Russia’s development, for your substantive proposals and comments. It is important that we have always listened to and understood each other. Although at times we disagreed, we have always tried to find proper and balanced solutions. I have had ample opportunity to see that we are united by a common goal – that of serving Russia.

Our mutual understanding, the cooperation between the government and parliament are important for many reasons. Without it, it would be impossible to move forward, to address basic economic and social, foreign affairs and security issues. Our combined effort is what enables us to resolve most complicated problems.

I believe that Russia enjoyed a major advantage compared with other countries during the global economic crisis, due to the coordinated work of the government and parliament. You understand that long discussions and deliberations about how things could be done better, and failure to act at a time when fast decision-making is needed, are more dangerous than taking action, even if it is imperfect.

Our country has indeed passed through a serious trial. We have been tested and we have passed this test successfully. We have toughed it out, having protected the interests of our people. We were unable to help everyone of course, but we managed to prevent a collapse of the national economy; we protected the economy, the banking sector, and the public services sector, as well as the overwhelming majority of Russians from major shocks. At the same time, we have not lost our vision of Russia’s development, and we have continued working toward our long-term goals.

The parliament has adopted the necessary laws and amendments to the federal budget following expert discussions, fully aware of their importance for Russians, and for specific industries, without any bureaucratic delays.

While drafting our bailout programme and implementing anti-crisis measures, we always considered all constructive proposals – I'd like to emphasise – all constructive proposals, regardless of the political party from which they originated.

I could not personally meet and contact every single parliament member often enough, but I can assure you that I met regularly with parliamentary party leaders and discussed current problems with them.

I would especially like to express my gratitude to the leaders of all parliamentary parties for our constructive cooperation.

In 2009, we established the new political tradition whereby the government makes regular reports to parliament. I consider this to be an important landmark in the development of Russia’s constitutional system. It is fundamentally important that the government is assessed by lawmakers and by all political parties that are represented in parliament. The issues you raised were in fact requests, most probably forwarded from the people. Everything that we discussed was later reflected in government initiatives, state programmes, projects, budget allocations and priorities.

I viewed each of our meetings and each of our reports as an opportunity to discuss the nation’s problems and develop possible solutions in an open and businesslike atmosphere, and this has always been the case. I would also like to take this opportunity, in addressing all State Duma members, to thank you for that now.

On December 4, a new lower house will be elected. The parliament will be renewed to represent the interests of the entire Russian society. There are different parliamentary parties in this house. This room will always bring together people who share various political views. This, in fact, is the cornerstone of a parliamentary democracy. This is the way it should be. In such a parliament, the ruling party always expects the opposition to remain calm, not to rock the boat. This is wishful thinking, of course; it is the role of the opposition to ensure that the ruling party holds the helm more firmly, so that it can prove to the people that the path it chose is the right one.

At the same time – I say this to each and every one of you – there are a lot of uncertainties and risks still ahead of us. And the coordinated action of the crew is doubly important during storms or crises. It is important that the boat remains afloat. The country’s stability, sovereignty and the welfare of its people are constant priorities that should always come before the interests of any political party. Any clan or group interests should take the backseat at times like this. The only valid criterion for our work is the benefit of Russia.

I am confident that the constructive dialogue between the executive and legislative authorities will continue and grow. We are facing – Russia is facing – new important goals, which can only be handled working together, while recognising our shared responsibility to the country and its people.

Let me thank you again for our cooperative work. I know that not all of you will be reelected to the next parliament; some of you will move on to other jobs. But at the close of your term, I would like to tell you this: whatever jobs you may take, whatever you do in the future and wherever you go, I am grateful for the years that we have worked together, and I sincerely wish you the best of luck. Thank you.

* * *

After delivering his speech, Vladimir Putin met and talked with the leaders of parliamentary parties.