Page 27 - RusRPTMay20

2.11 ​Politics - misc
US President Donald Trump thinks that Russia and Saudi Arabia have ended their “spats” over the oil market share and will reduce oil production​, Trump’s chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters on April 3. “President Trump, talking on a number of occasions with President (Vladimir) Putin and MBS (Mohammed bin Salman) of Saudi Arabia ... believes they have given agreement on their commitments, ending their spats with each other and stop artificially throwing oil on the market, which is already vastly oversupplied,” Kudlow said. On April 2, Trump said he talked with Mohammed bin Salman and was sure that Saudi Arabia and Russia can reduce their oil output by 10mn barrels per day or even by 15mn barrels per day.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (​EBRD​) has granted an unspecified investment to Russian tour aggregator Travelata​, making it the first investment by EBRD in Russia since sanctions were imposed in 2014 for Moscow's annexation of Crimea. EBRD previously refused to renew investments in Russia and the deal might signal a change in the sanction sentiment among pivotal international institutions. "Very big move for Russia by the EBRD. It may be a sanctions buster. Other IFIs [International Financial Institutions] to follow and noises about US relaxing measures in the wake of Rosneft sale in Venezuela​," financial market sources commented to bne IntelliNews​. The bank suspended financing new projects in 2014 after the introduction of Russian sanctions by the EU, despite Russia being its then top investment destination.
The total number of IT-related crimes committed with the use of technology in the three months of 2020 has increased by almost 84% compared with the same period in 2019, the press service for Russia’s Interior Ministry told TASS. "Cyber crime continues to significantly influence the crime rate. The number of IT-related crimes increased by 83.9%, while these crimes now take up 19.9% of all crimes committed," the statement reads.The ministry underlined that the crime rate rose by 4% in Russia due to this phenomenon.
2.12 ​Polls & Sociology
Russians' average life expectancy reached a historic record of 73.4 years in 2019, ​the country's Health Ministry was quoted by Interfax as saying Tuesday. The increase from 2018, when average life expectancy stood at a little over 73 years, is attributed to a 3.5% decrease in male mortality and a 2.1% decrease in female mortality among working-age Russians. "Thus, Russia was able to save the lives of an additional 13,600 working-age people," the Health Ministry's press service was quoted as saying. By comparison, life expectancy stands slightly under 79 years in the United States and under 77 years in China. The World Health Organization estimated the global average life expectancy at 72 years in 2016. Russia has earmarked 1.7 trillion rubles ($22 billion) on healthcare to meet President Vladimir Putin's goal of raising life expectancy to 78 years by the time his current term ends in 2024.
The share of Russian respondents who said they viewed Putin with positive feelings like admiration or sympathy stood at 29% ​in Levada’s latest poll, down from 32% in October 2019 and 42% in April 2017. Putin’s approval rating reached an all-time high of 87% after Russia annexed Crimea
27​ RUSSIA Country Report​ May 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com