Poll shows Russians sceptical about government’s ability to improve economy

(Interfax – Moscow, November 27, 2013) Few Russians believe that the economic situation in the country will improve in the next six months or that the government is capable of improving the situation in the country. At the same time, citizens differ on the acceptability of strikes to solve urgent problems, sociologists from the [independent pollster] Levada Centre have told Interfax.

Currently, one in five Russians (19 per cent) believe that the government is capable of improving the situation in the country. At the same time, only 7 per cent are confident that in the next six months the economic situation in the country will improve, according to the poll conducted among 1,603 respondents in 130 population centers of 45 regions of the country in mid-November. [As of 1330 gmt on 27 November, the results of the poll were not available on the Levada Centre website.]

The sociologists found that the number of Russians who have doubts about the government’s abilities is significantly higher – 39 per cent. Another 36 per cent were undecided – “maybe yes, maybe no.”

At the same time, the majority of respondents (58 per cent) do not expect any change in the country’s economic situation in the next six months (“will remain about the same”), while another 28 per cent are worried that it “will get worse.”

Asked by the sociologists to assess the probability of mass protests against declining living standards and to protect the rights of the population, 68 per cent of respondents said that this scenario was unlikely, while 26 per cent, on the contrary, said that it was realistic to expect such protests (the poll on this subject was conducted in late October – Interfax).

Meanwhile, according to the Levada Centre, Russians do not have much faith in the efficiency of strikes.