Poll: Most Russians Would Sacrifice Booze and Cigarettes to Hurt West

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 4, 2014) More than 70 percent of Russians would ban imports of booze and cigarettes from Western countries in retaliation for sanctions, but few would give up foreign cars or pay an additional tax on vacations abroad, a recent poll indicated.

Other popular measures included blacklisting foreign hotels (supported by 77 percent) and banning Ukrainian candy imports (79 percent), the state-run VTsIOM pollster said in a report released Wednesday.

But only 43 percent of respondents – apparently including those who don’t even drive – would approve of restrictions on bringing foreign-made cars into the country, the report said.

The possibility of paying an extra tax to take a vacation abroad was the least favorite measure, though it still got the approval of 38 percent of respondents.

The poll was conducted on Aug. 16-17 among 1,600 people in 42 Russian regions and had a margin of error of no more than 3.4 percentage points.