RUSSIALINK: “3% of Russians Trust Officials’ Income Declarations – Poll” – Moscow Times

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 7, 2019)

Only 3 percent of Russians believe that government officials submit trustworthy income declarations every year, according to an independent Levada Center survey.

The 2018 declaration showed President Vladimir Putin earning 8.6 million rubles ($134,000), or less than half of what he earned in 2017. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s yearly pay rose to 9.9 million rubles ($154,000).

A mere 3 percent said they believe that civil servants declare the entirety of their incomes and assets, according to results published by Levada on Tuesday.

Another 11 percent said that government officials declare “most” of their wealth, according to Levada’s poll results.

A combined 77 percent said civil servants declare either a “small” or “negligible” part of their incomes and assets.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov defended the income declarations on Tuesday, telling reporters that “it’s a complicated system.”

“Perhaps there’s not enough information about how it’s verified, but this is the system that’s built and it works,” he was quoted as saying by Interfax.

Levada conducted the survey among 1,625 respondents in 50 Russian regions between April 18-23.

[featured images are file photos]