Page 10 - RusRPTMar21

However, rather than new spending, analysts believe that much of the RUB500bn will comes from the redistribution of existing spending of budgetary funds, according to Alexander Suslin, head of the Fiscal Policy direction of the Economic Expert Group as cited by The Bell.
Most likely, the money will be distributed in one way or another to low-income strata of citizens - pensioners, large families, people with low income and state employees, suggests Sofya Donets, an economist at Renaissance Capital for Russia and the CIS.
As bne IntelliNews reported earlier, similar plans were outlined in the revamp of the 12 national projects with the most vulnerable social groups being targeted for immediate help, but plans for supporting the majority of society have not been decided yet.
Aid to low-income groups is also expected to give the economy a boost as they tend to immediately spend all their money on consumption.
2.2 Russian public unimpressed by Navalny
Russia’s independent pollster the Levada Center conducted a wide-ranging poll in February probing the Russians’ perception of President Vladimir Putin’s probity in the wake of the release of activist Alexey Navalny’s “Putin’s Palace” video that accuses the president of massive corruption.
The Kremlin has faced down countrywide protests in recent weeks and Navalny was jailed to 2.8 years in prison in what is widely seen as a politically motivated sentence. However, unlike Belarus' self-appointed president Alexander Lukashenko, according to the Levada survey Putin retains a loyal core of supporters and Russians remain divided over Navalny and his documentary.
"According to the survey results, Navalny’s approval rating has barely moved since September, dropping one percentage point from 20% to 19%. The share of Russians that disapprove of Navalny’s actions, however, has increased from 50% to 56%. It’s worth noting that even among Russia’s youth (age 18-24), more people disapprove of Navalny than approve (43% vs. 36%). Unsurprisingly, there’s a wide range in attitudes toward the opposition leader based on media sources. Only 11% of those who get their news from television approve of Navalny, versus 45% of those who get their news from Telegram channels," BMB Russia said in a note.
One in three Russians believe that Putin has never abused his power and another quarter say that even if he has they don't care as their lives have become better under Putin. Russians continue to compare Putin’s rule with life in the chaotic 90s under Boris Yeltsin when the economy had entirely collapsed. Putin brought a decade and a half of growth and prosperity until the economy stalled in 2013 and incomes began to decline again.
A quarter (26%) of the adult population have seen the film “Putin’s Palace” and another 10% are familiar with its content, but have not seen it. A third of
10 RUSSIA Country Report March 2021 www.intellinews.com