Page 17 - RusRPTAug20

2.7 ​Putin & government’s popularity
Russian President Vladimir Putin has regained his lead in the popularity rankings over Russia’s regional governors​, but his disapproval rating remains slightly more than those of the regional leaders, according to a recent poll by independent pollster the Levada Center.
Putin’s personal popularity remains high​ and after taking a hit during the coronacrisis has recovered from a low of 53 in April to 60 as of July, with those that disapproved of him falling two percentage points in June to 33 in July. 6% remain undecided, according to independent pollster the Levada Center. Trust in Putin, however, remains at its lowest level of 26% in July, the pollster said.
The regional governors have been enjoying a steady increase in their popularity​ as Russia’s regions continue to diversify and after the Kremlin poured billions of dollars into regional infrastructure investment, firstly as part of hosting the World Cup, and now as part of the​ ​12 national projects​. The quality of life in many of Russia’s regions have improved dramatically as a result and about a third of the 85 regions are doing well.
This progress translated into improving approval ratings, but the governors have lost some ground to Putin in recent months​. In March the governors overtook Putin in the popularity stakes with an approval rating of 65 vs Putin’s 63, but since then they have seen their popularity fall by 7pp to 58 as of July, although their disapproval rate remains 1pp behind Putin’s with 32% vs the president’s 33% disapproval rating. 10% remain undecided on the performance of the governors, according to Levada.
Despite the multiple crises, the Russian public remains pretty evenly divided on which way the country is going​, although those that think it is going in the “right” direction is down 10pp since the start of the year.
17​ RUSSIA Country Report​ August 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com