MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. On February 29, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to deliver his annual Address to both houses of the Federal Assembly, Russia’s supreme legislative body.
Since 2000, Russian presidents have addressed the parliament on 22 occasions: Vladimir Putin has done so 18 times, while Dmitry Medvedev did so four times during his term in office. TASS has analyzed some statistical parameters of the presidential addresses, including their duration, length of the text, frequently used key words, and other noteworthy details.
Duration
The longest address, lasting one hour and 55 minutes, was delivered by Putin in 2018 (here and below, the address time is rounded up to the next whole minute — TASS). The shortest speeches were delivered by Putin in 2004 and 2005 (48 minutes each). On average, Putin’s addresses have lasted one hour and 10 minutes, while Medvedev’s average speaking time was one hour and 20 minutes.
Text length
Putin claims the address with the longest text, clocking in at 11,428 words (2018). His first address to parliament in 2000 was also the briefest one, at just 5,146 words. The average number of words in Putin’s addresses is 7,388, with Medvedev’s average at 7,888.
Number of guests
As a rule, about 1,000 guests are invited to attend the delivery of the address in person. They include members of the Federation Council, or upper house of the Federal Assembly (known informally as the "senate"), and members (known as "deputies") of the lower house State Duma, as well as Cabinet ministers, Presidential Administration officials, the presiding justices of the Constitutional and Supreme courts, members of the Russian State Council and Civic Chamber, regional leaders, the heads of Russia’s main religious denominations, diplomats, journalists and others. In 2023, participants in the special military operation in Ukraine were invited to attend. In 2000, about 980 people attended the ceremony and about 1,300 guests were present in 2020. In 2021 and 2023 the number of those in attendance was not disclosed.
Number of action points
In 2005, following the Russian leader’s address to the Federal Assembly, a list of 15 actions points enumerated in the presidential address to be delegated to the Russian government for implementation was published for the first time. Over the next two years, instructions for implementing action points spelled out in the address were published by the Russian government. Since 2008, the head of state has delegated specific action points to the Cabinet of Ministers on a regular basis. The highest number of such instructions was issued in 2021 (67), and the fewest were in 2018 (7). In 2023, following the address, the president approved a 35-item list of action points.
Key words
The word "state" has been one of the most frequently used terms in the presidential addresses. Putin used it the most, 97 times, during his inaugural address in 2000.
The word "state" was mentioned the fewest number of times during the 2016 presidential address. The president uttered the word "Russia" most often in 2018 (107 times). It was the least mentioned (33 times) in Medvedev’s address in 2010.
The term "democracy" was used most frequently by Medvedev in 2008 (26 times) and Putin in 2005 (23 times). It was completely absent from Putin’s addresses in 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The strongest emphasis on economic issues was made in 2003, when the word "economy" and its derivatives were used 61 times. In 2020, Putin used this key word the least at just 15 mentions. The term "crisis" was most often heard in Medvedev’s speech in 2008 (17 times). In contrast, the word "crisis" was not mentioned at all in 2005, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2021.
"Security" was most often mentioned by Putin in 2023 (14 times). Medvedev used the word ten times in 2008 and 2009. Putin mentioned security only twice in his 2000 and 2015 messages.
The term "justice" was most frequently mentioned in Putin’s address in 2005 (17 times) and Medvedev’s in 2008 (12 times). In 2002 and 2003, it was not mentioned at all.