MOSCOW. July 17 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin's approval rating has risen to 85% from 80% for the past three months, according to a poll taken on June 16-17.

The Renaissance Capital investment and banking group, which carried out the survey, said in a report that 52% of those surveyed said they would "possibly" or "definitely" change their mind if the candidate they have decided to vote for in the 2008 presidential election is not the person Putin will possibly name as his preferred successor.

The report also said 72% of respondents had expressed the belief that Russia "is moving in the right direction" and that only 22% voiced the opposite view.

Two out of three respondents said the average quality of life was higher today than in the Soviet era; 64% said living standards were much higher today than during Boris Yeltsin's presidency, 21% only partially shared this view, and 9% said they were better off in Yeltsin's times than today.

Ninety percent were in favor of the state playing a significant role in the economy.

Also, 81% argued that Russia "has strengthened its positions in the international political arena recently."

Roland Nash, head of political and economic research at Renaissance Capital, said the poll confirmed that the next Russian president would most likely stick to the present-day Kremlin strategy.

The poll also suggests that news about the removal of a Soviet World War II memorial from the center of Tallinn to a military cemetery outside the Estonian capital was the international issue given the most extensive coverage in the Russian press in the second quarter of 2007.

The majority of respondents argued the memorial's removal was a move designed to aggravate Estonia's relations with Russia.

But it was Estonia's government rather than ordinary Estonians that was the target of the anger of most of the respondents.