Page 33 - RusRPTApr21

Economists have predicted that Russia stands to reap benefits from hotter temperatures, primarily through expanded navigation and exploration in the Arctic. Russia in 2020 saw record high average temperatures and a record drop of summer ice cover on its Arctic maritime route, the country's weather monitoring institute Rosgidromet said Thursday. Russia's average annual temperature last year was 3.22 degrees Celsius higher than the average for the period of 1961-1990 and more than one degree higher than the country's previous record in 2007, Rosgidromet said in a report released Thursday.
2.11 Polls & Sociology
Support for Russia's pro-Kremlin ruling party has dropped to an eight- year low ahead of legislative elections where it seeks to retain a supermajority this autumn, independent pollster the Levada Center said on March 11. United Russia, which enjoys a two-thirds majority in the country’s lower house of parliament, would receive 27% of the vote if it was held this Sunday, according to the poll. The last time Untied Russia’s popularity has fallen this low was in June 2013, just before the annexation of Crimea, which Russian President Vladimir Putin used to reinvigorate the party’s rating. It has since jumped to almost 40% in 2017 before plateauing at around 30% in recent years. United Russia’s support also dropped among likely Russian voters, though its 42% rating was still at least double those of its closest competitors. The low rating of United Russia is a serious problem for the Kremlin which is getting ready to launch its campaign for a general election slated for September 19.
Political apathy is at an all time high in Russia, according to independent pollster the Levada Center. Just over a quarter (27%) of Russians say they’re not interested in politics at all and another 12% said they are indifferent, a poll released on March 16 found. Another 45% said that they closely follow politics but don’t intend to play an active role in political life. Only 3% take part in political activities such as rallies and 23% openly distance themselves from politics. “In other words, exactly half of Russia's population is out of politics,” Levada Center director Lev Gudkov said in a statement, as cited by the Moscow Times. This poll also found that only 10% of young Russians aged 18- 24 said they cared about politics to a "very large" or "large" extent, while older Russians aged 65 and older had the greatest interest in politics of any age group at about 14%. The share of those who were indifferent to politics remained consistent across age groups, with 28% of people aged 18-24, 26% of those aged 25-39, 29% of those aged 40-54 and 27% of over-65s expressing disinterest in politics.
The declared turnout in the elections to the State Duma in 2021 six months before they are held is 55%, follows from the data of the Institute of Social Marketing, Insomar. 42% of voters say that they will definitely take part
33 RUSSIA Country Report April 2021 www.intellinews.com