Poll shows 80 per cent of Russian businessmen see economic crisis in the country

(Interfax – Moscow, May 28, 2015)

Data from a telephone poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) shows that an overwhelming majority of Russian businessmen (80 per cent) believe Russia to be in an economic crisis now, while 16 per cent are sure that there is no crisis.

Two-thirds of those polled believe that the crisis harms the sector in which they work. However, while among those involved in trade the share of this answer is 70 per cent, in agriculture, for instance, it is 44 per cent, and in finance, only 32 per cent.

A substantial proportion of entrepreneurs working in finance, 18 per cent, even said that the current difficulties benefited their sector, while in other sectors of the economy the share of this answer is not higher than 4-7 per cent.

On the question of how the sales of their own enterprise will change in 2015, businessmen’s opinions were split. On average, 27 per cent of those polled believe that they will increase and 38 per cent, that they will fall. In agriculture, however, 36 per cent expect an increase, and in finance, 41 per cent (a fall is forecast here by 18 and 29 per cent of businessmen respectively).

FOM polled businessmen from 25 April to 8 May, the sample was 2,003 respondents.

Data from weekly nationwide FOMnibus polls (1,500 respondents each) shows that 78 per cent of people in the country can see an economic crisis. At the same time, the share of those who believe that the economic situation in the country is deteriorating has dropped in the first quarter [of 2015] from 58 to 43 per cent. For 45 per cent of those polled, the crisis shows itself above all in the rise of consumer prices; for 14 per cent, in falling living standards; for 12 per cent, in the rise in unemployment and redundancies; for 8 per cent, in the instability of the rouble exchange rate; and for 7 per cent, in an economic downturn.

[Passage omitted: FOM is collecting anticrisis proposals from businessmen]