Page 28 - RusRPTFeb19

in the third quarter of 2008 and a record low of -59 Index Points in the fourth quarter of 1998.
2.9 Putin & government’s popularity
Trust in Russian president Vladimir Putin fell to a 13 year low in the first poll by the state owned pollster, the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM), slipping from 36.5% on December 29 to 33.4% on January 13, the pollster reports – its lowest level since January 2006.
Even during the mass protests of December 2011 following a rigged Duma election that put over 100,000 people on the streets of Moscow, Putin’s trust rating only fell to 37.4%.
This is not the same as the president’s approval rating, which remains high, but also fell slightly as the New Year starts. Putin’s approval rating fell to 62.1% on January 13 against 64.6% on December 29. The previous low in Putin’s rating was in August 2013 of 59%.
The VTsIOM results largely agree with the results of independent pollster the Levada Center, which puts Putin’s approval rating at 66% in December and disapproval rating at 33%. Levada also found that Putin’s popularity has fallen over 2018 having started the year at a sky-high 80%.
As bne IntelliNews recently reported half of the Russians want their government to resign following a tempestuous year that saw the state hike direct taxes on the population for the first time on Putin’s watch as well as hike retirement ages – both moves that undermine the unspoken social contract the president has with the people. A Levada poll found that the population is evenly divided on thinking the country is going in the right/wrong direction.
A pessimistic mood has settled over regular Russians, who have suffered from four years of austerity as the Kremlin sanction-proofs the economy and sacrifices prosperity for security using extremely fiscally conservative tools that have left the economy preforming way below its potential.
The government has been even harder hit in the VTsIOM poll. The ruling United Russia electoral rating dropped to a new low of 33.8% in January versus 35.6% on December 29. The previous minimum for the party was also recorded during the December 2011 protests of 34.4%, which were elections
28 RUSSIA Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com