MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) - Fifty percent of Russians think that the national situation stabilized during the presidency of Vladimir Putin, representatives of the Levada Center told Interfax on Thursday.

Forty-six percent of them believe that democracy and market reforms were preserved in the course of stabilization, although 30% voice the opposite opinion. Seventy-three percent say that's good for Russia, and 11% say that's bad, the sociologists said.

Seventy percent said that Putin's main achievement was the increase in living standards during his term. Fifty-five percent said they would like Putin to take part in the next presidential election, however, 19% raised objections.

The number of Russians concerned over the large gap between the rich and the poor reduced from 65% to 53% over the past year. The number of people who think that the gap has grown smaller, increased from 9% to 13%.