Over third of Russians anticipate hard period – poll

(Interfax – MOSCOW, October 21, 2013) Russians have mixed feelings about the country’s development scenarios in the near future. Some are optimistic and others suggest pessimistic scenarios, the Russian Public Opinion Studies Center (VTsIOM) told Interfax on Monday.

Over a third of Russians (36%) claim a hard period is in store for the country. Most of such opinions are voiced by Muscovites and St. Petersburg residents (49%) and people with incomes lower than average (42%), the sociologists said.

A quarter (24%) of 1,600 respondents said the country was already living through a hard period, and 28% argued that a stretch of bad times was over.

“The index stays in the negative zone at -32,” the sociologists said, adding that the index was even lower, -38, in September 2012.

There is a variety of economic prognoses made by Russians. Some 41% presume that the next twelve months will be good for the national economy, and 42% predict an unfavorable period. The correlation was 45% vs. 38% in June.

The interviews of September 2012 also displayed mixed trends (42% of optimists and 42% of pessimists).

VTsIOM held its latest poll in 130 towns and cities in 42 regions on September 21-22.