Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing him to remain head of state until 2036 if he stands as a candidate and is elected, TASS news agency reports.
His term expires in 2024, after which the 68-year-old politician can run for two more presidential candidates and serve two six-year terms.
More than three-quarters of the emerging voters voted in a referendum last July to favour amendments to the constitution that would allow Putin to stay in power longer. At the time, the Kremlin called the result a testament to popular confidence in Putin.
Parliament approved the amendment last month.
The former KGB spy is already the longest-serving leader since Communist Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. He previously managed to get around the limitation on the president’s maximum terms of office by becoming temporary prime minister.
Putin has dominated Russian politics for over twenty years. He says he has not yet decided whether he wants to participate in the elections again.