Who are the Russian oligarchs, according to the Russians?

The main criticisms of the oligarchs are because of the allegedly "semi-criminal" means of enrichment and their "excessive political influence"

Almost all participants in a poll of the Russian sociological center BCIOM believe that there are oligarchs in Russia, TASS reported. Ninety-four per cent of the respondents "have no doubt about the presence of oligarchs in the country," said the poll published today. Three per cent of respondents say there are no oligarchs in Russia; they still do not answer. In the "popular ranking" of the most famous oligarchs in Russia, the businessman Roman Abramovich is headed by 15 per cent of the survey participants.

The top three include Oleg Deripaska, one of the owners of the aluminum company Rusal, with 8 per cent, and the entrepreneur Mikhail Prokhorov, who became known as a banker and miner of the mining industry, then a politician, by 7 per cent. Following are the names of Vladimir Potanin, president of the Nornikel company, Anatoly Chubais, chief of Rosnano, Alexey Miller, head of Gazprom, Alisher Usmanov - a developer, sportsman and patron, with 4 per cent.

The most commonly questioned people are the oligarchs as people of great wealth (52 per cent of those who recognize the presence of oligarchs in Russia). According to 44 per cent, the oligarchs are more damaging than the country's benefits, 9 per cent think the benefits are more, and 36 per cent - that the "benefits and damages are roughly equal." 

The main criticisms of the oligarchs are because of their supposedly "semi-criminal" means of enrichment and their "excessive political influence", says the director of BCIOM Valeriy Fedorov. 

The poll was conducted on 7 and 8 April on the phone by 2000 adult citizens of Russia with a maximum error of up to 2.2 per cent, with a probability of 95 per cent.