(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in Russia hold negative views on the behaviour of their government officials, according to a poll by the Yury Levada Analytical Center. 29 per cent of respondents say practically every official is corrupt, while 47 per cent think the majority of them are, up four points since July 2007.

Vladimir Putin was elected to a second term as president in March 2004 with 71.31 per cent of all cast ballots. In April 2005, Putin ruled out seeking a new mandate, saying, "I will not change the constitution and in line with the constitution, you cannot run for president three times in a row."

In November 2003, Putin authorized the establishment of an anti-corruption committee. The crackdown on illegal activity began in October 2003, when Mikhail Khodorkovsky—head of oil corporation YUKOS—was arrested on tax evasion and fraud charges.

Russian voters renewed the State Duma in December 2007. United Russia (YR)—whose candidate list was headed by Putin—secured 64.1 per cent of the vote and 315 of the legislature’s 450 seats. On that same month, Putin endorsed Dmitry Medvedev as a presidential candidate, and Medvedev said it would be of the "utmost importance" to have Putin as prime minister.

In March, Medvedev easily won Russia’s presidential election with 70.28 per cent of the vote. In May, Medvedev was sworn in as president. His nomination of Putin as prime minister was confirmed by the State Duma in a 392-56 vote.

Medvedev has talked of corruption as "a systemic challenge" and "a threat to national security." On Jul. 17, the Russian president said all civil employees must learn basic computer skills, both to improve productivity and make corruption "harder to hide." Medvedev issued an ultimatum to government employees, declaring, "They either should learn or, as they say, goodbye. We don’t hire people who can’t read and write. Computer literacy today is the same."

Polling Data

What do you think is the extent of bribery and corruption in Russia?

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Mar. 14 to Mar. 18, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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