Putin's job approval rating reaches year's record level of 86.8% - VTsIOM poll
MOSCOW. Dec 29 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's job approval rating has grown over the past week from 85.8% to 86.8%, which is this year's record-high level, the All Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies (VTsIOM) said.
The job approval rating of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stands at 61.2%, according to the results of a VTsIOM survey, which was conducted in 130 Russian populated localities on December 24-25 and involved 1,600 people.
Putin's trust rating has also continued to grow and reached 62.1%. The trust rating of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has also increased from 11.5% to 14%. They are followed by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (13.8%), Prime Minister Medvedev (12.6%) and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky (8.8%).
The number of respondents who support the United Russia party has not changed over the past week, standing at 48% both in the December 17-18 survey and the December 24-25 survey. The rating of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia is almost unchanged, edging up from 12% to 12.1% in the past week. The rating of the Communist Party of Russia has demonstrated a slight growth from 8.2% to 8.8% over the past week, while the rating of a Just Russia Party increased to 6.5% in the December 24-25 poll from 4.9% in the December 17-18 poll.
