MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s popularity rating since the moment he first took office in 2000 has been up more than 50%, with the strongest surge in popular support registered after the reunification of Crimea with Russia, the public opinion studies center FOM has found. The statistics were made public at a round table discussion at TASS timed to the 15th anniversary of Putin at the helm of power.
As the FOM’s chief, Alexander Oslon, has told TASS, the results were obtained on the basis of weekly polls held for the past fifteen years. The respondents were asked to say whom they would vote for if the presidential election were to be held the forthcoming Sunday.
Whereas during the presidential election campaign in 2000 Putin’s rating stood at 47%, on March 22, 2015 Putin would have collected the votes of 75% of Russians.
According to the FOM, popular support developed a steep uptrend following Crimea’s admission to Russia in 2014. At the moment the decision was made Putin’s rating stood at 50%. In the twelve months that followed Crimea’s admission to Russia the rating has been steady on the rise to have achieved 75% on March 22, 2015.