The independent Russian polling center Levada says Vladimir Putin's rating is 37 per cent, Ekho Moskvy reports on Wednesday.
At the same time, the state-run VTSIOM polling center recently announced that 52 per cent of Russians support Putin. Another state-run center, FOM, has said the figure is 45 per cent.
Presidential elections in Russia will be held on March 4, 2012. Vladimir Putin is running for president as well the Communist Party's chairman Gennady Zyuganov, the populist LDPR party's leader Vladimir Zhirinovky, the socialist Just Russia party's founder Sergey Mironov and well-known tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov. The founder of the liberal Yabloko party, Professor Grigory Yavlinsky, probably won't be registered as a presidential candidate.
