The All-Russian Public Opinion Centre (VTsIOM), basing itself on polls of Russians, determines politicians and public personalities who are most distrusted by citizens of Russia. Over the past half-year no new names have appeared on this list, but there have been interesting changes in the anti-ratings of party leaders and some oligarchs, traditionally posing as chief anti-heroes of Russian society.
The most mistrusted are widely known members of the top business community echelon - Boris Berezovsky (35 per cent), Anatoly Chubais (33 per cent), Chukotka governor Roman Abramovich (29 per cent), and also Russia's ex-president Boris Yeltsin (27 per cent). These figures enjoy the minimum level of credibility (1 per cent and less) and have long been admittedly negative characters from the point of view of most Russians (their credibility ratings are miserable, and no-confidence ratings traditionally very high).
According to 2003 results, Anatoly Chubais became the leader of anti-rating, but in the first five months of 2004 Boris Berezovsky confidently got ahead of him. He is now the main Although Berezovsky is disliked in all electoral groups, he is perceived most negatively by followers of the Union of Right Forces party (40 per cent) and United Russia (42 per cent).
