Page 11 - RUSRptAug18

2.11 Polls & Sociology
The ratings of the confidence of the most popular Russian ministers - Sergei Shoigu (Defense Ministry) and Sergey Lavrov (MFA) - have dropped sharply over the past six months, according to Levada Center data. Following the fall in the level of confidence in President Vladimir Putin (from 60 to 48%) and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (from 12 to 9%), caused by the announcement of raising the retirement age, ministers who are not involved in this reform lose credibility: the rating of confidence in Shoigu decreased from 31 to 19%, to Lavrov from 25 to 14%.
Almost three quarters of foreign guests, who attended the 2018 FIFA World Cup, have said they would like to visit Russia again, spokesperson for the youth wing of the United Russia party "The Young Guard of Russia" Anna Rogacheva informed journalists in July. According to her, volunteers have been conducting a poll for the whole month of the tournament. "We have polled 5,367 foreign guests in all 11 World Cup host cities. The average age of the pollsters was 33 years, the average length of stay - 12 days," Rogacheva explained. "73% of those surveyed said that they would like to visit Russia again, and 5% stated that they would stay in Russia longer to continue their vacation," the spokesperson said. According to her, 87% of guests have never visited Russia before, and 64% of newcomers have had negative stereotypes about Russia. "In particular, they said that Russia has bad weather, unfriendly people, and that Russian people are intolerant in general. 88% ended up disagreeing with the stereotypes," Rogacheva stressed.
Nearly three-fourths (72%) of those interviewed by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center anticipate that other countries’ attitudes toward Russia will improve in the wake of the 2018 FIFA World Cup , the poll showed on July 27. "After our country hosted the World Cup, 72% of our fellow citizens expect other countries’ attitude toward Russia to improve," the pollster said. A mere 1% said the attitude to Russia would worsen. Most respondents (83%) supported such large-scale international sporting events as the FIFA World Cup that was held in Russia. Just 13% said Russia should not host such major tournaments. According to nearly three-fourths of Russians (71%), the fact that Russia hosted the World Cup did a world of good for the country. 60% of those polled said this event helped boost Russia’s image, other 16% were certain it would accelerate tourism, while another 14% pointed to tourism revenues. Sociologists also noted that more than one half of Russians (60%) believe the World Cup was worth the money that had been spent on it. On the other hand, 9% of those surveyed said they viewed the tournament in a negative light. Half of them (49%) believe the investment shelled out on it will not pay off, one-third (31%) stressed the funds could have been used for the needs of the country, while every fifth respondent (19%) described the World Cup as an attempt to divert public attention from the country’s real problems.
More than half of Russians want to bolster cultural and political ties with the United States and foster security cooperation, a survey conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center revealed in July. "Over half of the respondents (54%) see the need to boost cultural ties between Russia and the US. Some 55% of those polled underscored launching security cooperation between the countries, and another 52% believe there is the need to mend political ties. One in two of those polled (50%) spoke about working on
11 RUSSIA Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com