Prime Minister Vladimir Putin leads the 2009 Russian elite rating, with President Medvedev as a runner-up and pop diva Alla Pugachyova in third place, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center said on Tuesday.
More than 67% of those questioned answered "Putin" when asked about the leading figure of the Russian elite, while a half (50.64%) referred to Medvedev, the survey said. According to the poll, the rating of the Russian incumbent president has improved by almost 12% since last year, when only 38.8% of those questioned said he was the elite leader.
Putin's popularity rose after a national televised address in early December, curbing a four-week slide. However, a dip was noted in both Medvedev and Putin's popularity in recent months. The popularity of Pugachyova, one of the most prominent personalities on the domestic pop scene in the 1970s and 1980s, has dropped to 17.76% from almost 23.76 % last year.
Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky, composer Igor Krutoy, film director Nikita Mikhalkov, singer and parliament member Iosif Kobzon, and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov took places from 4 to 10, the research center said.
Lawyer Pavel Astakhov, pop singers Galina Vishnevskaya and Valeria, painter Ilya Glazunov, Vice Premier and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, footballer Roman Pavluchenko, TV host Leonid Parfyonov, as well as head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, are an the bottom of the list, with popularity ratings not exceeding 0.64%.
Some 1,600 people in 140 localities and 42 regions took part in the survey conducted on December 19-20, with a statistical margin of error within 3.4%.
MOSCOW, December 29 (RIA Novosti)
