Sochi - barometer of presidential popularity

The Russian President’s popularity has soared after the city of Sochi won the Olympic bid. That’s according to a poll carried out by the Russian Centre for Public Opinion Studies.

The poll suggests that if the presidential elections had taken place in July, and if Vladimir Putin had been eligible to run for a third time, 63% of voters would have decided in his favour, and only 4% would have gone for each of the First Deputy Prime Ministers – Sergey Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev.

However, a poll conducted just a few days after Sochi won the 2014 Winter Olympics bid shows President Putin’s popularity soaring to 69%, while Medvedev would get 3% and Ivanov just 2% of votes.