( Itar-Tass ) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will mark his 55th birthday in the Kremlin on Sunday for the eighth and last time in his capacity as the head of state.
Putin has told reporters about his plans for the upcoming celebrations. "You know, as a rule I don't give any parties but this year is an exception. With my presidential term expiring and because I almost have a jubilee anniversary, I've invited the permanent members of the Russian Security Council and the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces, including the commanders of military districts and branches of troops, to come to the Kremlin on Sunday," the president, who is the commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces, told journalists.
In the eight years of his presidency, Putin has never taken a day-off on October 7, irrespective on which day of the week it fell. Putin marked his 50th birthday at the CIS summit in Chisinau, Moldova. In 2000, 2003 and 2005 he held meetings in his native St. Petersburg.
"When I don't have work, I get back to my work," Putin said about himself. "I don't do it for the PR effects, it's simply interesting. The more you do, the more you realize that there is much more to be done," Putin explained.
On the eve of his birthday Putin decided to try himself in another new capacity. He will head the United Russia Party at elections to the Russian State Duma on December 2. However, he kept ground. He hasn't changed the Constitution or his own non-party status.
Putin hasn't yet answered the two main questions that have been worrying many in the last four years. Who will be the candidate for a future president for whom Putin will vote in the presidential polls in March and what his future job will be? Putin has only replied "a proposal to head a government will be quite realistic."
Putin will again celebrate his birthday with sweeping off scale popularity ratings. His attitude to his own personality cult is negative. " I would ask you not to write books or cast busts," Putin said.
President Putin already received the first birthday greetings from his CIS counterparts in Dushanbe. The Tajik capital was the venue of three summits - the CIS, the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization - on Friday and on Saturday.
Putin was not the only birthday boy at the summits. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon is two days older than he. He also received greetings. He received a post of the EurAsEC chairman as a birthday gift. He will hold the post for a year.
Greetings to Putin were more discreet. His colleagues preferred to keep silent about the gifts they made to the Russian president. Moldovan President Voronin was the only exception. He said that he had presented a huge bottle of Moldovan champagne to Presidents Putin and Rakhmon.
"I presented super big champagne bottles to the two presidents," Voronin told reporters. Asked to comment on how large the bottles were, Voronin said they were approximately human size and pointed to a woman reporter who was about 160 centimetres tall.