Putin President "Be happy, dear friends!I wish you all the best for the New Year!"

New Year Address to the Nation

December 31, 2007 The Kremlin, Moscow

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: Dear fellow citizens of Russia, Dear friends.

Today I would like to say something special to you. As we see off the outgoing year, I want to sincerely thank you for everything that we have done together with you during the past eight years.

All that we have managed to achieve would have been simply impossible without your steadfast support, without your trust, without your direct participation in the revival of our country.

We have not only restored the territorial integrity of Russia. But once again we are able to feel we are a united people. And all these years we worked together to preserve our country, to transform it into a modern, free, strong state able to provide its citizens with a convenient and comfortable life.

We have seen how, from year to year, Russia has been gaining in strength and becoming stronger. How our economy has been growing. How new opportunities have been opening up for the people.

To be sure, we have not managed to do everything. But I am quite certain that the road the people have chosen for Russia is the right road and that it will lead us to success. We have everything to achieve our goal ?our great history, colossal resources, courage, industriousness and intellectual potential of our great nation.

Dear friends,

In a few minutes, we shall usher in the New Year. This is a holiday filled with love for our dear ones, with the warmth of our homes. A holiday of hope and belief that everything will turn out the way we want it to turn out. That our life will become better. That our children will be happy. That our elderly people will be healthy and safe. That our country will become stronger and blossom.

So let us wish each other new achievements. And, of course, we shall raise our glasses to the health and happiness of our near and dear, to those whom we value and cherish more than anything else in the world. To whom we give the warmth of our hearts and with whom we want to be together.

So may your most cherished dreams come true!

Be happy, dear friends!

I wish you all the best for the New Year!