MOSCOW, February 25, 2008 Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents information on how well Russians are informed of the fact that presidential elections are going to take place on March 2 this year, whether they are planning to vote and how they motivate their decision.Russians’ level of awareness of the fact that presidential elections are to take place on March 2nd this year, has noticeably increased during the last month. If 74% of respondents knew the exact date of the forthcoming elections on January 19-20, then on February 23-24 nearly 93% do. The share of those who have heard something about the elections has simultaneously reduced (from 22% down to 7%). The share of those who do not know about the elections or find it hard to provide an answer to this question has decreased from 4% down to less than 1% of respondents.86% of respondents identify that they are going to vote, this includes 61% who are definitely sure about it and 25% who are planning to vote but are not sure about it yet. The share of those who will definitely participate in the elections has grown from 45-48% up to 61%. The portion of those who are not planning to vote accounts for 9-12% of respondents in January – February, including 5-6% of respondents who will definitely not vote.People motivate their decision of not voting by mentioning personal or family circumstances (19%), saying that election results have already been predetermined (17%), that their vote will not change the general result (16%); that they are under impression that nothing will change anyway; that they are not interested in politics, that there is no worthy contender to vote for (13-15% for each option); and lastly, respondents quite seldom mention that the elections will be falsified (2%).The main reason for voting is the civic duty (as 36% of respondents of those who are planning to vote, identify). Respondents also refer to the general habit to always vote (17%) and a willingness to make use of their constitutional right to vote (10%). Only 6% of those planning to participate in the elections, do it with the purpose of supporting their presidential contender.The initiative all-Russia opinion poll was conducted by VCIOM on February 23-24, 2008. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 153 population areas of 46 regions ofRussia. The statistical error does not exceed 3.4%