MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Sergey Naryshkin, the speaker of the outgoing State Duma (lower house of parliament) to lead the foreign intelligence service SVR. The question was discussed at Putin’s meeting with Naryshkin and current SVR Director Mikhail Fradkov on Thursday.

"At a meeting with Naryshkin and Fradkov Putin asked Naryshkin to lead the SVR," presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"Putin expressed the hope the voters who voted for Naryshkin at the recent parliamentary elections would understand that he would have to return his deputy mandate, which also means consent to send him to such a vital section of work," Peskov said.

The decree to appoint Naryshkin will be signed soon, he added.

Naryshkin will replace Mikhail Fradkov as the Foreign Intelligence Service chief.

"Putin discussed the future work with Fradkov who will be nominated as the head of the Russian Railways Company board of directors," Peskov stressed.

"The president praised the achievements made by the (foreign intelligence) service, especially under the current international circumstances, over the years, which Fradkov had been at the helm. Putin thanked Fradkov for his work," Peskov said. 

Putin described Fradkov as an efficient and highly professional Foreign Intelligence Service chief. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin expects that Sergey Naryshkin will do his utmost to ensure the service should provide effective response to threats to Russia’s security.

"Just as all of us you are well aware of the situation we are in today," Putin said at a meeting with Naryshkin and former SVR Director Mikhail Fradkov. "You know well how important the successes of your service are for the stable and reliable development of our country and for providing timely response to threats to Russia’s security and for preventing their expansion, as well as ruling out their emergence and warding off at early stages," Putin said.

Putin asked Naryshkin to work constructively with partners "in the first place in combating terrorism" and "providing the country’s with timely, authentic and reliable information to let them take well-considered decisions for the sake of Russia’s people."

Naryshkin thanked Putin for trust.

"I regard this proposal as an order from the head of state and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief," he stated.

"I am well aware the job of the foreign intelligence chief involves no publicity, in particular, in contrast to the one I had in the State Duma," Naryshkin said. "Also, I perfectly realize that the scale of the SVR’s tasks and of its expected contribution to ensuring the strategic interests of the state is just enormous.".