MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - President...

In his annual state-of-the-nation address, the Russian leader said that his vision of Russia"s future was based on "firm conviction in the necessity and possibility of Russia acquiring global superpower status on a principally new basis."

The Russian president said Russia"s national welfare and its role in the international arena should no longer be determined by the Soviet-era achievements.

"Oil and gas industry complexes, which provide the lion"s share of budget income, nuclear weapons that guarantee our security, industrial and housing facilities - this all was made mostly by Soviet specialists," he said.

The president said that the Soviet era heritage is rapidly becoming outdated.

"Though it keeps our country afloat, it is rapidly becoming outdated," he said.

"It is high time for today"s generations of the Russian people to express themselves and raise Russia to a new and higher level in developing civilization," the president added.