President Vladimir Putin has appointed State Duma (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament) Speaker Sergei Naryshkin as head of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency.

Putin made the announcement in a September 22 meeting with Naryshkin and Mikhail Fradkov, the outgoing head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, known as the SVR.

"It is important to promptly head off threats that arise in relation to Russia…neutralize these threats at an early stage," Putin told Naryshkin, according to a Kremlin transcript.

Naryshkin will formally assume his new post on October 5, according to a September 22 decree signed by Putin and published on the Kremlin’s website.

Naryshkin has served as State Duma Speaker since December 2011 and prior to that was the chief of the presidential administration for over three years.  He also served as the head of the government office from 2004 to 2007.

The SVR is Russia’s main service for conducting foreign surveillance.  It was founded in 1991, following the break-up of the Soviet Union, and it assumed the functions of the former Soviet Central Intelligence.  Among other responsibilities, the SVR is tasked with providing intelligence to the Russian president and government, as well as to both parliamentary chambers, according to Russia’s RT news agency.