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Russians show little concern about global crisis
They are more worried about rising inflation and the falling dollar
Despite official reassurances that the Russian economy will not be affected by the global financial crisis, Russians are preparing for the worse, just in case. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) has carried out an opinion poll gauging public feeling about global economy problems. It emerged that most Russians do not think of such problems at all, or at least they do not discuss them. A third of respondents view the global crisis as a long term process, and about half of them expect adverse effects for Russia.
Almost a third of those polled were unable to assess the condition of the global economy, while 34 percent called it unstable, 14 percent said the global economy was plunging into a crisis, and 5 percent think it is developing dynamically. Asked about the reasons behind the global economic crisis, 15 percent blamed it on the weakening US dollar, 12 percent – on high inflation, and 7 percent – on rising energy prices. Twenty-three percent did not see any signs of a crisis, and most respondents were undecided.
Sixty-eight percent said they did not discuss the crisis at all, with only 17 percent saying they had such conversations. Seventy-nine percent could not say anything about the reasons for the crisis. Yet, a third of respondents expect it to continue for a long term, and 44 percent have no idea about how long it could last.
Despite their low awareness of what is going on in the world economy, 46 percent of those polled expect the crisis to hit the Russian economy, while 11 percent think it will have a positive effect for Russia. On the whole, better-off respondents were more optimistic, they seem to trust Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who described Russia as an “island of stability” in the stormy financial ocean. The global crisis is expected to have a greater impact on the Russian economy as a whole than on individuals. A third of those surveyed think they will not be affected by the global crisis, four percent hope that it would improve their situation, and a third of respondents said it could worsen their situation.
The research results reflect media hype over global economic problems, which is supported by the US, experts say. “All this talk of crisis is empty, the US just wants to make its financial problems global,” is what ordinary Russians feel, according to Agvan Makaelian, General Director of Finexpertiza.
People have no clear idea about what is happening. “They heard something, and the dollar is falling, which means that there is a global crisis. But people do not really understand what is happening, and they are not very much interested in it,” says Igor Nikolayev, chief strategic analyst at FBK. Indeed, Russians seem to be preoccupied by other problems. “For 20 million people living below the poverty line, the main goal is to survive. Those who are better off but not rich are concerned about inflation,” Nikolayev said.
Though they have vague ideas about what is going on, people fear that ‘the unclear’ will worsen the situation. On the contrary, 70 percent of Americans assess their personal financial situation as normal, according to Yevgeny Gontmakher, Director of the Social Policy Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “Here, they say that Russia is an island of stability, and this incantation, repeated from the screens, prompts the idea that things are really bad across the ocean,” he said. “Catastrophic overtones echo back to the difficult 1990s, which still live in our memory,” Nikolayev concluded. Analytical department of RIA RosBusinessConsulting
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