MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. Almost 80% of Russians know about the upcoming nationwide vote on amendments to the Constitution and 66% of those polled are planning to take part in it, Head of the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) Valery Fyodorov said on Tuesday.

"These are the data of five polls. The first was held on January 24 and the latest on February 20. We see quite a high share of those who know and have heard something about the vote: on January 24, 72% of the respondents answered in the affirmative to this question and subsequently this figure kept climbing and today already 79%, i.e. actually four-fifths of adult Russian citizens know and have heard that such a vote is being prepared," the VTsIOM chief said at a meeting of the working group on amendments to the Constitution.

As the VTsIOM poll shows, 66% of Russian citizens are ready to take part in the vote.

"According to the latest poll on February 20, the breakdown of preferences is as follows: 41% of those polled said they would surely take part in this vote, 25% of the respondents were most likely to take part in it while 11% said they would surely skip it. Another 23% of those polled, or actually one fourth, said they had not set up their mind yet or found it difficult to answer," the VTsIOM head said.

All the proposed amendments to the Constitution, about which VTsIOM asked citizens, "received high support and were deemed as essential and worthy of a positive attitude," he added.

"Amendment No. 1 says that the state provides access to and the quality of health care services (97% of those polled consider it important). The second major item is that children are Russia’s most important asset and the state must render them social support (96%). The third thing is the state’s responsibility for protecting the rights of working Russians and that the minimum pay must not be less than the subsistence level (95%). The fourth item is the annual adjustment of pensions (94%)," Fyodorov said, noting that the amendment saying that no Russian territory could be torn apart from Russia came fifth (93%).

Russians also consider as important the amendments to the Constitution on prohibiting officials to have foreign citizenship and also on protecting animals, measures to support and strengthen international peace and security, protecting nature and preserving the country’s natural diversity and also on guarantees of providing targeted social support and adjusting allowances and benefits, the VTsIOM head said.

VTsIOM has held its all-Russian representative polls over the past month and a half. Each time, the pollster polled 1,600 respondents, using the method of a telephone interview. The polls covered citizens aged 18 years and older. The maximum margin of error equaled 2.5%

Bill on constitutional amendments

At its January 23 session, the lower house of Russia’s parliament unanimously adopted a bill submitted by President Vladimir Putin on amendments to the Constitution.

In particular, the document envisages expanding the powers of the president and the Constitutional Court of Russia, prohibiting top officials to have a residence permit in other countries, restricting the number of presidential terms, establishing the priority of the Fundamental Law over international treaties and enhancing the state’s social commitments.

The Russian president’s bill also stipulates holding a nationwide vote on the amendments to the Constitution.

Initially, the second reading of the bill was scheduled for February 11. However, considering a large number of incoming proposals on specifying and supplementing it, the term of collecting amendments was extended to February 14 and then to March 2.