MOSCOW. April 18 (Interfax) - Fifty-one percent of Russian citizens recently interviewed by the Levada Center believe that Vladimir Putin's major achievement as president of Russia is the re-establishment of Russia's traditional status of a great power
The number of respondents who share this opinion has grown by 15% over the past year, Levada Center sociologists told Interfax, when presenting the results of their survey, conducted in 45 Russian regions at the end of March.
When commenting on the president's other achievements, 27% of those polled said that Putin managed to "reverse the separatist sentiments and prevent a break-up of Russia" (24% the year before).
Twenty-five percent of Russians noted the success of the head of state's efforts to stabilize the situation in the North Caucasus (17% in 2013). Twenty-five percent of respondents said that salaries and pensions keep growing in the country thanks to Putin (28% in 2013).
Respondents to the survey also said that the policies pursued by Putin helped offset the negative effect of the 2008 crisis (19%). Sixteen percent of those polled said that the president is "keeping Russia on the path of reforms", 13% noted continuing integration processes within the CIS, 12% mentioned reforms "with a focus on social securities for the population", and another 12% spoke of Putin's successful measures to stop the economic crisis in the country and stem declining production.
However, 35% of respondents (43% in 2013) said that Putin "has been unable to ensure a fair distribution of incomes in the country," and 31% (36% in 2013) said that "ordinary citizens have not been given back the money lost as a result of the reforms" in the 1990s.
When asked what problems should be at the center of the president's attention today, 62% of respondents mentioned the need for Russia's economic growth to recover, 44% spoke of the fight against corruption, 35% mentioned the need to restore social justice and raise the living standards for ordinary people, and 28% of those polled urged the president to "restore order in the country." Other tasks named by respondents include enhancing Russia's defense potential (26%), bolstering Russia's positions in the international arena (24%), stepping up control over law enforcement (23%), and intensifying the crackdown on crime (20%).
Respondents' opinions on whose interests the president represents have changed in the past two years. The number of those who believe that Putin represents the interests of security services, the Armed Forces and the Interior Ministry has grown to 46% from 37% in 2012. The number of respondents who think that the president represents the interests of the oligarchs, bankers and leading entrepreneurs has grown from 36% to 38%, the interests of civil servants and the bureaucracy from 27% to 33%, and the interests of the heads of major enterprises from 21% to 24%.
The idea that Putin supports the interests of the middle class was voiced by 23% of those polled (27% in 2012), and the interests of ordinary citizens by 12% (18% in 2012).
The opinion that Putin represents the interests of all Russian citizens "with no exception" was supported by 14% of respondents (7% in 2012).