Over 60% of Russians see Putin as good strategist, responsible leader – poll

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 10, 2013) Most Russians are informed about the tasks President Vladimir Putin has set for the government, think they are feasible and note Putin’s “good strategic foresight,” according to a recent opinion poll.

“Seventy-three percent of those polled are more or less informed about the tasks Putin set to the government in May 2012, and 46% of them see these tasks as quite feasible,” the Levada Center pollster told Interfax after conducting a national poll.

Thirty-three percent of informed Russians doubt these tasks can be fulfilled.

Putin signed eleven decrees on the inauguration day May 7 2012, which outline the country’s political, socioeconomic, military, scientific, educational and other objectives.

Sixty-two percent of the respondents polled described Putin as a person who feels his personal responsibility for the situation in Russia, 61% percent said he has “a good strategic vision of problems” and 45% that he is “attentive to citizens’ needs.”

Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed said Putin is demonstrating better performance now that during his previous presidential term, compared to 17 who have the opposite opinion. Forty-eight percent of respondents do not see any difference.

The poll, conducted in 130 localities of 45 regions in late May, shows that 55% of the 1,600 respondents polled have a positive opinion of Putin. Forty-two percent of those polled said they support his moves and 41% described him as “an ideal ruler.”

More than 80% of respondents do not doubt that Putin is influencing the situation in Russia, of whom 43% said Putin’s influence is strong and another 12% “very strong.”