Russian Public Opinion Research Center
Russian public opinion polling organization
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
VTSIOM, formally the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, is a Russian state-owned polling and social-research institution founded in 1987. It began as the All-Union Public Opinion Research Center during the late Soviet period and was renamed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992. The organization is generally regarded as the oldest polling institution operating in post-Soviet Russia and has become one of the country’s most prominent providers of political, social, and market research. The center was created by the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions and the USSR State Committee of Labour. Its establishment reflected the Soviet leadership’s growing interest in systematic measurement of public attitudes. Tatyana Zaslavskaya served as its first director, while sociologist Boris Grushin played an important role in building a nationwide network of research centers. The first large representative surveys of adults were conducted in 1988, and regular nationwide polling developed from the following year. Yuri Levada and a group of researchers, including Lev Gudkov, Boris Dubin, and Alexey Levinson, joined the organization during its formative period and helped establish its methodological and academic reputation. During the 1990s, VTSIOM operated through a mixture of public- and private-sector contracts rather than a direct state budget allocation. It conducted more than a thousand studies during that decade and became an important training ground for Russia’s emerging polling and market-research industry. Several organizations and professional initiatives later associated with Russian sociology and public opinion research originated in or developed alongside VTSIOM. The Public Opinion Foundation, initially connected with the center’s fundraising activities, separated from it in 1992. VTSIOM received scientific-institution status in 1999. A major institutional conflict occurred in 2003, when the Russian Ministry of Property transformed the center from a federal state unitary enterprise into an open joint-stock company whose shares remained fully owned by the state. Yuri Levada and much of the previous research team interpreted the restructuring as a potential threat to the organization’s independence and left to establish the non-governmental Levada Center. Valery Fedorov became VTSIOM’s head during the transition. In 2004, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service ruled that VTSIOM retained the right to use its established brand, while the Levada organization could not continue using the VTSIOM name. VTSIOM describes its work as full-cycle research, covering questionnaire and research-design development, sampling, fieldwork, data processing, statistical analysis, interpretation, and presentation. Its subjects include election preferences, approval ratings, social mood, public trust, education, health care, housing, family life, corruption, business conditions, corporate reputation, consumer behavior, finance, insurance, information technology, media, automobiles, real estate, and sport. The organization uses personal and telephone interviews, focus groups, exit polls, expert surveys, hall tests, mystery shopping, and other qualitative and quantitative techniques. Its field network includes branches across Russia’s federal districts, regional partners, and a large interviewer network. The center also has a research and teaching role. It operates an expert council bringing together specialists in sociology, political science, marketing, philosophy, history, and related disciplines. Since 2003 it has published the journal Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes, which has been available online, including its archive, since 2009. VTSIOM has supported academic collaborations, including a chair at the Higher School of Economics and a research center at the Russian State Social University. It also publishes monographs and edited volumes on Russian political and social attitudes. VTSIOM participates in international professional networks and has carried out projects for Russian and foreign clients, including intergovernmental and international organizations. Since the 2000s it has contributed to comparative research across the post-Soviet region through the Eurasian Monitor network. In contemporary Russia, its principal areas of visibility are political ratings, electoral studies, social indicators, public attitudes toward government programs and reforms, and commissioned market or reputation research. Its state ownership and frequent publication of findings relevant to government policy have also made its methodology and political independence subjects of recurring public debate.
History
VTSIOM was established in 1987 as the All-Union Public Opinion Research Center by the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions and the USSR State Committee of Labour. Tatyana Zaslavskaya became its first director, while Boris Grushin helped create a network capable of conducting representative surveys throughout the Soviet Union. The institution drew methodological inspiration from established Western polling practice and conducted its first major representative adult survey in 1988. Regular nationwide surveys followed in 1989. Yuri Levada joined the organization in 1988 with a group of prominent researchers, including Lev Gudkov, Boris Dubin, and Alexey Levinson. During the late Soviet and early post-Soviet periods, VTSIOM developed a reputation for professional polling and became a central institution in the development of Russian sociology and market research. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the center was renamed the Russian Public Opinion Research Center in 1992. It financed its activities through contracts and grants from public and private clients rather than a direct state budget allocation, and it conducted extensive political, social, and commercial research. The institution also served as a source of expertise and personnel for the wider research sector. The Public Opinion Foundation separated from VTSIOM in 1992, and VTSIOM received scientific-institution status in 1999. In 2003 it began publishing the journal Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes and later made its archive and current issues available online. Academic collaborations included a VTSIOM chair at the Higher School of Economics and a research center at the Russian State Social University, both operating from 2008 according to the cited reference material. The most consequential organizational rupture occurred in 2003. The Ministry of Property converted VTSIOM from a federal state unitary enterprise into an open joint-stock company with all shares held by the Russian state. Yuri Levada viewed the change as a possible mechanism for political influence over research results and left with many colleagues to create the independent Levada Center. Valery Fedorov became the organization’s director. The resulting dispute extended to the VTSIOM name, and in 2004 the Federal Antimonopoly Service confirmed VTSIOM’s right to use the brand. After the reorganization, VTSIOM continued many of its previous research programs while expanding its role as a state-linked provider of political and social indicators. Its research covers elections, public approval, protest potential, social conditions, government reforms, business environments, corporate reputation, brands, finance, health, education, housing, and other subjects. The center maintains branches and regional partnerships, uses a nationwide interviewer network, and applies both quantitative and qualitative research methods. VTSIOM has also pursued international and comparative work. It has participated in professional networks such as InterSearch and the Eurasian Monitor and has conducted projects for organizations including UNDP, the United States State Department, and the NATO Information Office in Moscow, as well as Russian public agencies and corporations. Its post-Soviet comparative work has included regular monitoring of social attitudes in multiple countries. The institution’s public profile remains closely connected to political polling and government-related research. Supporters emphasize its scale, continuity, methodological resources, and long experience. Critics have questioned the independence or wording of some studies, particularly when findings concern the government, protests, or politically sensitive historical issues. These competing perceptions are central to understanding VTSIOM’s role in contemporary Russian public life.
- 2009
Journal archive made available online
[1]The journal’s archive and newer issues became accessible through the internet.
- 2004
Name-rights ruling
[1]The Federal Antimonopoly Service affirmed VTSIOM’s right to the VTSIOM name.
- 2003
State-owned joint-stock reorganization
[1]The organization was converted into an open joint-stock company with all shares remaining under state ownership.
- 2003
Launch of Monitoring of Public Opinion journal
[1]VTSIOM began publishing its own academic journal on economic and social change.
- 1999
Receives scientific-institution status
[1]VTSIOM was recognized as a scientific institution, reinforcing its research and academic functions.
- 1992
Renamed Russian Public Opinion Research Center
[1]Following the end of the Soviet Union, the institution adopted its current Russian identity and name.
- 1988
First representative nationwide adult surveys
[1]VTSIOM conducted its first major representative surveys and expanded its network of regional research centers.
- 1987
All-Union polling center established
[1]The All-Union Public Opinion Research Center was created by the Soviet trade-union council and State Committee of Labour.
Products and positioning
Russia’s state-owned national public-opinion and social-research institution, combining large-scale polling infrastructure with political, social, and commercial research capabilities.
Public-opinion research · 1988
National public-opinion surveys
Regular representative surveys measure Russians’ views on politics, society, institutions, public services, reforms, social conditions, and current events. VTSIOM uses nationwide field infrastructure, regional partners, interviewer networks, and a mixture of face-to-face and telephone techniques.
Political research
Political and electoral research
This line includes approval ratings, election studies, voter preferences, protest potential, exit polls, and assessments of political figures and institutions. It is among VTSIOM’s most publicly visible areas of work.
Social research
Social indicators and public-program evaluation
VTSIOM studies education, health care, family, housing, corruption, public trust, social mood, and attitudes toward government programs. These studies can be conducted at federal, regional, or comparative international levels.
Market research
Commercial and corporate research
The center provides commissioned research on brands, consumer behavior, corporate reputation, employer image, finance, insurance, information technology, media, automobiles, real estate, pharmaceuticals, and other sectors.
Research publication · 2003
Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes
VTSIOM’s scholarly journal publishes analysis of Russian public opinion and social change. It has been issued six times a year and has an online archive.
Controversies
2019
Criticism of Moscow protest polling
Commentators criticized the wording of a VTSIOM question concerning the 2019 Moscow protests, arguing that it was framed in a way likely to produce a government-favorable interpretation.
2003
Dispute over state reorganization and research independence
The conversion of VTSIOM into a fully state-owned joint-stock company led Yuri Levada and other researchers to argue that the organization’s independence could be compromised. They left and formed the Levada Center, creating a lasting institutional and reputational divide in Russian polling.
Brand decisions
2003
Convert VTSIOM into a state-owned joint-stock companyStrategyBackground
The Ministry of Property sought to change VTSIOM’s legal form from a federal state unitary enterprise while keeping ownership entirely in state hands.
Action taken
VTSIOM was reorganized as an open joint-stock company with full state ownership and continued contract-funded operations.
Aftermath
The change triggered the departure of Yuri Levada and much of the prior team, the creation of the Levada Center, and a dispute over the VTSIOM name.
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