It's official - Medvedev now presidential hopeful

Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has officially applied to run for president. He's already considered the favourite after receiving the backing of President Putin.

Dmitry Medvedev has strong backing from the President himself and the United Russia party, which gained 64% at the recent parliamentary election.

“I have to justify the faith put in me by an awful lot of people, who consider that I can do this very complex job. So I feel equally responsible and nervous,” Medvedev said.

The 42-year-old is a trained lawyer and used to be the President’s chief of staff before becoming Deputy Prime Minister.

His key responsibilities in the government currently focus on domestic issues such as housing, education and health, known as National Priority Projects.

“Concerning the person in charge of these projects, I think it's up to the future government to make a decision on this,” Medvedev commented.

And international policy is the field Dmitry Medvedev is yet to explore.

Russia Today’s political commentator Peter Lavelle says Medvedev’s chances of getting Russia’s top job are extremely good, especially since Putin has thrown his support behind him. He also notes that it’s very important that Medvedev will be leaving his position as Chairman of Russia's energy giant Gazprom.

According to current Russian laws, anyone taking the post of President cannot hold any other jobs.

The full list of candidates will be announced in a little more than a month.

Until then Dmitry Medvedev can get back to his duties at the government and choose how to celebrate the New Year.