Majority of Russians think it is impossible to make millions honestly

Hand Pulling Cash from Envelope

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Francesca Moll in London – July 23, 2015)

Most Russians believe that the country’s millionaires earned their money dishonestly, according to a recent survey.

In a survey by the independent pollster Levada Centre, an overwhelming 70% of respondents answered “no” when asked if they thought you can earn millions of rubles honestly now in Russia.

47% also confessed that they disapproved of millionaires because of this belief, although 30% said they would have nothing against wealthy people as long as the money was acquired honestly.

At the same time, close to one in 10 Russians believe that severe income inequality could be useful in their society, acting as a motivating factor for ordinary people to work hard. Many more – around 60% – would tolerate a gap between the wealthiest and the poorest, as long as it was not too large.

These findings come at a time when the wealthiest 10% in Russia own a staggering 84.8% of the country’s wealth, according to a recent Credit Suisse study.

Scepticism about the honesty of Russia’s wealthy has decreased since 2006, when 83% of respondents believed that you had to bend the rules to make millions of rubles.

 

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