Russian president’s job approval rating stands at over 80 percent – VTsIOM

(Interfax/Russia Beyond the Headlines – March 27, 2014) The job approval rating of Russian President Vladimir Putin has grown to 82.3 percent from 75.7 percent a week ago, sociologists of the All Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies (VTsIOM) have said following a recent public opinion survey.

The sociologists have explained this result primarily by Crimea’s accession to Russia and the situation in Ukraine (71 percent of respondents).

The poll, which was conducted by VTsIOM in 42 Russian regions on March 22-23 and involved 1,600 people, indicates a significant rise in the president’s job approval rating, which stood at 60.6 percent in January 2014. Previously, Putin’s job approval rating reached an all-time high of 82.9 percent in February 2008.

Putin gained popularity ahead of Crimea vote

The survey shows that the assessment of the president’s work given by residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg is generally lower than the average assessment given in other regions of the country.

In recent months, the electoral rating of the United Russia Party has reached 56.2 percent, its best result in the past five years. The party’s electoral rating stood at an average of 45 percent over the past two years.

The poll’s margin of error was 3.4 percent.

Article also appeared at http://rbth.com/news/2014/03/27/russian_presidents_job_approval_rating_stands_at_over_80_percent_-_vtsio_35403.html
However, even in Moscow and St. Petersburg Putin’s job approval rating stands at 81.5 percent today.