June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Russians like the U.S. government more than they have since before Boris Yeltsin ceded the presidency to Vladimir Putin, indicating Barack Obama's "reset" is paying off, a poll published today shows.

Fifty-nine percent of Russians have a "good" or "very good" opinion of the U.S., up from 46 percent a year ago and 22 percent in September 2008, the month after Russia waged a five- day war with U.S. ally Georgia, the Moscow-based All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion said in a statement.

The percentage of Russians who have a "bad" or "very bad" opinion of the U.S. fell to 27, less than half the 65 percent recorded in September 2008 and the lowest since 1998, according to VTsIOM, as the Moscow-based center is also called. The poll of 1,600 people was conducted May 1-2, before President Dmitry Medvedev's state visit to California's Silicon Valley and Washington, and had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

"The ‘reset' in people's heads is happening," said VTsIOM Deputy Director Olga Kamenchuk by phone today. "The media coverage of U.S. and Russian relations has become much more positive, so the opinions polls are following this trend."

Since Obama called to "reset" relations with Russia last year, the former Cold War rivals have signed a nuclear arms treaty and increased cooperation in Afghanistan and on sanctions against Iran. Last week, during Medvedev's visit to Silicon Valley and Washington, the two leaders agreed to build on their political agreements and switch the focus of their relations to commercial ties.

More "lighthearted" events like Obama taking Medvedev out for an unscheduled hamburger in a Washington suburb will lead to even more favorable opinions of the U.S. leader in Russia, Kamenchuk said.

"The Obama factor is definitely here, though there's no ‘Obama-mania' in Russia," Kamenchuk said.

--Editors: Brad Cook, Torrey Clark.