50% of Russians say Russia full G8 member - survey

MOSCOW, June 22 (RIA Novosti) - About 50% of Russians have said that Russia is a full member of the Group of Eight industrialized nations, according to the findings of a respected pollster's a survey published Thursday.

Russia is presiding over the club of rich nations this year and St. Petersburg will host a summit on July 15-17.

The study conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation revealed that 46% of 1,500 respondents said Russia was a full member, whereas 29% said Russia played a minor role in the elite group.

With a month to go before the summit, the survey, which was conducted on June 17-18 in 100 cities and towns in 44 regions, also indicated that 49% of Russians were well informed of the summit, 28% "knew" it was about to happen and 21% had "heard something about it."

The survey had a margin of error of 3.6%.

The leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, France, Germany and Italy will be joining Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russia's debut G8 summit.