Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has been elected to the remote Chukotka region's legislature with 97 percent of the votes, official figures showed today.

Abramovich, the 41-year-old owner of English soccer club Chelsea, quit as Chukotka's governor in May but remains popular after investing heavily in the region in Russia's Far East since he was elected its governor in 2000.

His support in Sunday's election surpassed the 87.2 percent of votes Vladimir Putin, who is now prime minister, won in Chukotka in the Russian presidential election in 2004.

Putin retained Abramovich as governor of one of Russia's most impoverished regions in 2005 after changing the law to abolish elections for regional governors. This was part of the Kremlin's plans to ensure the wealth of Russia's rich businessmen helped revive Russia's economy.

Abramovich has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on rebuilding Chukotka, on the Bering Stait opposite Alaska. Brightly coloured Canadian-designed homes have replaced shabby Soviet-era buildings in a demonstration of its new wealth.

Abramovich is widely expected to become the head of the regional parliament.

The Chukotka election was part of a series of regional votes on Sunday, including polls in the Irkutsk, Kemerovo and Trans-Baikal regions and the southern province of Chechnya.

The main pro-Kremlin party United Russia, headed by Putin, scored between 49 percent of vote in Irkutsk to 88 percent in Chechnya, securing the lead role in all five regional legislatures.

Three other parties -- Fair Russia, the Communists and the Liberal Democratic party -- will form minority factions. The three describe themselves as opposition parties, but are generally loyal to the Kremlin.