Sixty-seven percent of Russians approve of the work of the Russian president Vladimir Putin.

MOSCOW, January 17, 2020. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the ratings of trust in president and presidential job approvals as of January 16^th and during the period from January 9^th through 12^th, 2020.

2020 Presidential address to the Federal Assembly

On January 15^th, 2020, Vladimir Putin delivered his annual address to the Federal Assembly for the sixteenth time. The address lasted for one hour and twelve minutes.

During the live broadcast VCIOM was conducting several focus group discussions in different Russian cities. To determine respondent attitudes towards the presidential address a method measuring the perceptions of video material was used. Respondent reaction was recorded in real time.

Most of the topics touched upon in the presidential address drew wide response among respondents. The most resonant topics were as follows: assistance to families with children; extension of maternity capital program; proposals to develop healthcare; arranging meals for primary school students; additional payments to class teachers; measures aimed to fight poverty and to foster economic development; the priority of the Constitution over international law; banning public officials from having foreign citizenship; and Russian-wide Affordable Internet Project.

Russian president’s rating

The January 16^th presidential approval rating was up, compared to the last week’s rating, reaching 67%. The trust level was at 71%.

Russian president’s rating (January 9^th–12^th, 2020)

During the last week (January 9^th through 12^th) the mean value of presidential approval was 62.3%. When asked about trust in Vladimir Putin, 68.9% of respondents answered positively (26.6% distrust V. Putin). 

Assessment of the government performance, support for political parties (January 9^th–12^th, 2020)

Russian prime-minister’s and Russian government’s approval updates are 38.1% and 41.2% respectively.

Over the last week the level of support for the United Russia party has been 32.5%; KPRF, 14.5%; LDPR, 12.6%; A Just Russia party, 5.9%.

Russian VCIOM-Sputnik surveys were conducted from May 2019 through January 2020 and involved Russians aged 18 and over. Prior to June 17^th 2018, a total of 1,000 of respondents were surveyed on a daily basis at least in 80 regions of Russia. From June 18^th 2018, 1,600 of respondents are surveyed daily. The average value over a four-day period is taken (January 9-12^th). The survey was telephone-based and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 1% for the data collected during the seven-day period (11,200 respondents). In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

The focus groups were conducted on January 15^th, 2020, within the framework of the 2020 Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly. The focus group participants were watching the live broadcast and recorded their reaction to the actions and statements made by Vladimir Putin. Multimedia equipment was used to record the reaction. After the broadcast the respondents answered the questions of the formalized questionnaire.

Seven focus group discussions took part in the administrative centers and medium-sized cities of the subjects in the Russian Federation. A total of 120 respondents (Russian citizens aged 18 and older) took part in the study.

The results of the focus group discussions provide background information and are not representative of the Russian population.

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory.