When asked about VTsIOM management change during his visit to Columbia University in the United States in September 2003, Russian president Vladimir Putin was supportive of the change in management. The research priorities today are political ratings, social mood indices, governmental programs, and reforms. VTsIOM still conducts research for the most significant Russian private and public institutions. New - applied and pragmatic focus of research programs is expressed in a change in its slogan - “Information for success!” instead of the former “From opinion – towards understanding”. The Center is sometimes criticized by its subjects of study. Gennady Zyuganov (leader of Communist Party of Russian Federation) criticized VTsIOM's objectivity when evaluating media request results of VTsIOM study on the Lenin's Mausoleum stating “I think this is an unprofessional study”. According to VTsIOM, Russians supported the burying Lenin in a cemetery instead of keeping him in the mausoleum. VTsIOM has also been accused of having a special relationship with The Kremlin. “The New Times” magazine published the series of reports “Corruption in Russia” about manipulations that VTsIOM uses in favor of the Presidential Administration. VTsIOM launched a lawsuit against "The New Times" and won after ten-month-long trial the Court acknowledged the published material doesn’t correspond to the reality. The Court made the magazine publish the refutation and the reporter who wrote the articles pay fine. VTsIOM conducts research both on regional and federal level, as well as in the post-Soviet space (together with colleagues from the former USSR—members of “Eurasian Monitor” Agency) and other countries. Topics of interest include:  The wide range of research techniques, such as personal interviews, focus groups, mystery shopping, hall tests, exit polls, expert surveys, telephone interviews and others, is used. The methods include both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis, and sample building programs. Surveys based on a representative sampling are conducted every week on 1,600 people from 140 places throughout the 42 regions of Russia. VTsIOM regularly coordinates and implements international research projects for foreign and Russian customers such as UNDP, U.S. State Department, NATO Bureau in Moscow and others. Since 2004 the Center has taken an active participation in designing the system of regular sociological research in post-Soviet area (in the framework of “Eurasian Monitor”:, VTsIOM is one of the founders of Eurasian Monitor as well as other sociological services in the former USSR republics.