Interfax: Over 40 per cent of Russians do not believe corruption could be defeated – poll

 

(Interfax – June 17, 2015)

A public opinion poll conducted by the independent pollster Levada Centre has shown that two thirds of Russians believe that President Vladimir Putin is making progress in fighting corruption, but, at the same time, more than 40 per cent believe that it will be difficult to defeat it because corruption cannot be eradicated in Russia, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax on 17 June.

The poll was conducted in May 2015 among 800 respondents in 134 settlements across 46 Russian regions.

According to the poll, 64 per cent of Russians – up from 49 per cent in 2013 – believe that Putin is “restricting the appetite of bureaucrats who are attempting to use Russia’s assets in their own interest”. At the same time, 42 per cent think Putin will continue his crusade against corruption but will not succeed because corruption cannot be eradicated in Russia. Only 35 per cent of respondents thought so in 2013.

Almost a third of respondents, or 31 per cent, believe the president will succeed in the war against corruption by “carrying out a decisive purge in the ranks of top-level civil service and toughening punishment for such crimes “.

Another 16 per cent of respondents – against 21 per cent in 2013 – believe that it is difficult for Putin to fight corruption because “he himself is very much dependent on corrupt officials”

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