MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/. Vladimir Putin has officially assumed office as Russia’s President, Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin announced after Putin accepted the presidential emblem and took the presidential oath in the St. Andrew Hall at the Grand Kremlin Palace.
This is Putin’s fourth term as head of state. His first two terms lasted four years each. The head of state’s tenure was extended to six years after the Russian Constitution had been amended. Putin’s first six-year term began in 2012, while the second term of office will end on May 7, 2024. According to Article 81 of Russia’s Constitution, an individual cannot serve as president for more than two consecutive terms.
After winning the presidential race in March 2018, Putin commented on his possible return to the presidency in 2030, dismissing such assumptions as ridiculous. "What you are saying is a little bit ridiculous," said the 65-year-old head of state answering a reporter’s question during his visit to his election headquarters on March 18. "Let’s count… I am supposed to sit here until I am 100 years old? No!"
Putin first assumed office as Russia’s president in 2000, having served two terms until 2008 when Dmitry Medvedev was elected the nation’s head of state. In 2012, he again got the opportunity to run for the presidency. Putin was the first president whose tenure is six years.
Chairperson of Russia’s Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova handed the presidential certificate over to Putin for a new term of office on April 3.