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Medvedev to celebrate New Year at home, watch presidential message on TV

At midnight on December 31 he will address the nation for the fourth, last time

MOSCOW, December 31 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will celebrate the New Year at home with his family, as usual, presidential press-secretary Natalya Timakova told Itar-Tass.

“New Year is a wonderful holiday. I am going to spend it with my family. This is a custom practically in every Russian home,” Medvedev said earlier.

The Medvedev couple – Dmitry and Svetlana – have a 16-year-old son, Ilya, to whom the head of state hopes to dedicate all his spare time during the vacation. President Medvedev has mentioned more than once that his busy schedule leaves practically no chance of spending as much time with his son as he would like to.

Medvedev, like everybody else in Russia, will see the traditional presidential message on TV.

“Sometimes I may have a very strange feeling - as if I were in front of the camera again. And I can get very anxious whether I managed to speak my heart,” Medvedev shared his emotions once.

At midnight on December 31 he will address the nation for the fourth, last time. He took the highest state post in Russia in May 2008 and he will leave it in May 2012, after the inauguration of the new president, to be elected on March 4.