Moscow, Dec 31 (IANS) Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Saturday said that Russia ‘is an island of stability’ amid the global financial turmoil and wished all a successful new year.
‘Indeed, the world economy has not been stable. In this sense, Russia is an island of stability to a certain extent,’ Putin told reporters on the new year’s eve, reported Xinhua.
He stressed that Russia has made a successful recovery from the global financial crisis and overcame its aftermath, which, in Putin’s words, gave Russians confidence that ‘next year will also be successful’.
The prime minister also noted that the coming year is the ‘Year of the Dragon’ according to the ‘oriental calendar’.
The year of the dragon has meant good luck for Russia in the past, Putin said.
‘(I) Hope this time that Dragon will bring luck, well-being and prosperity to each Russian family and to all our citizens,’ Putin said.
Addressing the recent parliamentary elections held on Dec 4 and the upcoming presidential election on March 4, Putin said that in such times everything is somewhat unsteady and turbulent.
‘But this is the inevitable cost of democracy. There is nothing unusual here,’ Putin stressed.
Following the Dec 4 election, Russia has been marred by mass protests against alleged vote frauds, in which the ruling United Russia party, led by Putin, gained 238 out of 450 seats and kept an absolute majority in the new State Duma, or the lower house of parliament.
