MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/. Russian senators have, in a secret ballot, unanimously re-elected Valentina Matviyenko for a fourth term as chairperson of the Federation Council (upper house of parliament).

Matviyenko has been serving as senate speaker since 2011.

She was nominated by Federation Council First Deputy Speaker Andrey Yatskin. As many as 155 senators backed her re-election, with no one voting against or abstaining.

Matviyenko thanked the senators for their backing. "We have a wonderful and professional team that is results-oriented and believes in a strong state," she pointed out. Matviyenko also expressed gratitude to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his support, noting that all senators were fully behind the head of state.

Alexander Beglov, who was recently re-elected as governor of the city of St. Petersburg, earlier confirmed Matviyenko’s credentials as the senator representing the city government.

After serving as St. Petersburg governor in 2003-11, Matviyenko was elected to represent the city in the upper house. She was the first woman ever to hold this position. She was re-elected as senate speaker in October 2014 and September 2019.