The results of an opinion poll by the state-run pollster VTsIOM released on Friday show that support for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin grew 3 percentage points this week to 52 percent and that he could win the March 4 presidential elections without a runoff.
“Putin has a solid lead in the presidential election rating poll, with support for him growing from 49 to 52 percent throughout the week. Support for [Communist candidate] Gennady Zyuganov, who shares the second place with [LDPR candidate] Vladimir Zhirinovsky (8 percent), declined (from 11 to 8 percent),” the pollster said.
A Just Russia party candidate Sergei Mironov lost two percentage points during the week and is currently supported by 4 percent of respondents.
Mikhail Prokhorov’s ratings remained unchanged, at 4 percent.
Approval rating of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev remains stable, with monthly fluctuations between 55 and 57 percent. Approval for Putin as premier fluctuates between 58 and 60 percent.
The ruling United Russia party has the support of 42 percent of respondents; the figure has remained unchanged for three weeks.
The Communists and LDPR, currently supported by 12 percent and 11 percent of respondents respectively, lost three percentage points in three weeks. A Just Russia’s ratings lost two percentage points and now stand at 7 percent.
The survey was conducted on January 28-29 among 1,600 respondents in 46 Russian regions.
