MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. President Vladimir Putin leads the 2014 Russian elite rating for tenth consecutive year, the state-run All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (WCIOM) said on Tuesday.

A record number of Russians (81%) referred to Putin when asked about the leading figure of the country’s elite, the pollster said.

Putin is followed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (28%) and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu (26%).

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (21%), leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovsky (15%), pop star Alla Pugachyova (11%), Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov (8%) and filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov (7%) are also on the list.

Some 1,600 people in 132 localities across Russia took part in the survey conducted on December 13-14, with a statistical margin of error within 3.5%.