Page 26 - RusRPTAug19

talk show host Andrei Malakhov at 11%. Television presenter Andrei Norkin, media personality and talk show host Vladimir Pozner and political commentator Olga Skabeyeva shared the third spot at 6% each.
The number of Russians with incomes below the poverty line increased to 20.9mn people and reached 14.3% of the population in first quarter of 2019, according to the Rosstat website. The overall level of poverty in Russia has ticked up from 13.9% in the first quarter of last year (20.4mn people) due the increase in inflation in prices that make up the reference minimum subsistence basket compared to the consumer price index, the report says. In particular, the subsistence minimum increased by 7.2% from RUB10,038 ($158) in the first quarter of 2018 to RUB10,753 in the first quarter while the consumer price index increased by 5.2% in the same period. Rosstat used a new methodology for calculating real incomes of the population, introduced in April 2019. Rosstat stressed that an accurate estimate of the number of poor people is only possible at the end of the year, when all seasonal and annual payments have been taken into account.
In 13 regions of Russia, more than 1% of residents are infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), according to “On the epidemiological situation of HIV infection in the Russian Federation, HIV prevention at the workplace” study from Rospotrebnadzor watchdog. In 35 regions of the country, the proportion of the population with HIV is more than 0.5%. More than 1mn Russians from a population of 146mn are now infected. When infection levels get to 1% the disease has a “bridge” and starts moving from high risk groups like drug users and homosexuals into the general population. The worst affected regions are Irkutsk and Svetlovsk where infections levels are close to 2%. Condom sales have been falling in Russia as incomes stagnate for the sixth year in a row.
Entrepreneurs say business conditions are poor. Seven out of ten (71%) entrepreneurs in Russia says the business climate is poor, according to the state owned pollster, the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM). Entrepreneurs say they are forced to focus on risks, not opportunities, leading them to abandon long-term plans for business development. The state is responsible for the majority of risks, they say, not as an adversary that deliberately harms business, but as an uninterested partner that sends conflicting signals. “This is excellent timing as central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina and Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin spar back and forth on the reasons for Russia’s low economic growth. While the survey really just states what everyone already knows, it quite literally proves Nabiullina’s point: corporate investment, and therefore the Russian economy, will not grow until the state improves the business climate. And there’s little the CBR can do about that,” BMB said in a note. The survey consisted of phone calls with 500 entrepreneurs and a series of interviews with business representatives and experts. Respondents outlined two main factors affecting the business climate: economic factors (the population’s low purchasing power, 72% of respondents, and high taxation, 70%) and institutional factors (an unfair judicial system, 52%, and corruption, 48%). Events such as the arrest of Baring Vostok CEO Michael Calvey have a large impact on business’ perception of risks, the survey found. Only 20% of respondents expect the situation to improve over the next five years. Most anticipate a deterioration in the business climate.
A top Russian official warned of a ‘catastrophic’ population loss in the coming years. Russia’s population numbers are declining “catastrophically” with several regions vastly underestimating their death rates, a top government
26 RUSSIA Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com