Interfax: Putin’s job approval rating reaches 86 percent

(Interfax – February 26, 2015)

The job approval rating of Russian President Vladimir Putin has grown one percentage point in the past month, rising to 86 percent in February against 85 percent in January, Levada Center sociologists told Interfax on Thursday.

Thirteen percent of respondents to the center’s latest survey criticized Putin’s work at the post of Russian president.

The job approval rating of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stands at 64 percent, while his work received negative assessments from 34 percent of those polled (35 percent in January).

Sixty percent of respondents approved of the Russian government’s performance, and 50 percent of the State Duma’s work.

Sixty-three percent of those polled spoke positively of the work of Russian governors, including the Moscow mayor, and 35 percent took the opposite view.

The respondents were also asked to name five or six Russian political figures whom they trust most.

President Putin was mentioned by 59 percent of those polled (55 percent in December 2014), Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu by 24 percent of respondents, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by 20 percent, as compared with 12 percent in January.

They are followed by Prime Minister Medvedev (19 percent), Communist Party chairman Gennady Zyuganov (11 percent), Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky (10 percent), Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia (6 percent), Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko (5 percent), Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov (4 percent), and former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin (3 percent).

Twelve percent of respondents said they do not trust any Russian political figures today, and 13 percent of those polled noted that they are not interested in politics.

Fifty-four percent of respondents believe that Russia is moving in the right direction, 29 percent of those polled expressed the opposite opinion, and 17 percent were unable to answer the question.

The survey was conducted in 46 Russian regions on February 20-23 and involved 1,600 people. The margin of error was 3.4 percent.