MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. It takes about six weeks to prepare Putin’s State of the Nation Addresses to the Federal Assembly, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station on Wednesday.
"Addresses one way or another stem from the current development plans, which are constantly worked on and updated. However, it takes about six seeks to prepare the text itself," he noted, referring to "the period of active work" on the document.
According to Peskov, an entire group set up by the Kremlin’s executive office works on Putin’s presidential addresses but "the basic draft is always the result of collective efforts" that involve close coordination with the government. In particular, the effort involves the finance minister, "because all the measures proposed [in the address] are based on figures." Besides, "nearly all state agencies, many governors and public figures send in their proposals," Peskov noted. He pointed out that the president "makes all the final changes and frequently adds new messages."
Peskov also said that the chief editors of news outlets had been informed on the main ideas of the upcoming address at a briefing at the presidential office on Tuesday night but had been prohibited from making the information public ahead of time.