Page 79 - BNE_magazine_06_2020 Growers

bne June 2020 New Europe in Numbers I 79
A third of Russians are ready to participate in a mass protest against falling living standards
bne IntelliNews
A third (28%) of Russians are ready to participate in a mass protest against falling living standards, according to independent pollster the Levada Center in a survey released on June 1.
The result is the highest level of readiness for economic protest over
the past year and a half. In November 2018, after President Vladimir Putin signed the law on raising the retirement age, 30% of respondents declared their readiness to participate in protests with an economic goal.
The survey also found that 61% of respondents said state aid should go first and foremost to families with children, followed by pensioners (58%) and the poor (48%).
Potential for protests – economic demands
As bne IntelliNews reported, the result comes as trust in Russian President Vladimir Putin has fallen to a record
low of 25% in May from a peak of 59% in November 2017. Putin’s approval rating has also fallen from the 80s, where it had been for several years, to 63% as
of March.
Support for Putin has suffered from his decision to distance himself from the government response to the coronacrisis and leave it to the regional governors to deal with. The popularity of the governors had already climbed into the 60s and was on a par with Putin’s before the epidemic and oil price shock hit the country, but their popularity is now likely to be higher than Putin’s.
28% of Russians are ready to participate in a mass protest against falling living standards, just as trust in Putin falls to a record low of 25%
Source: Levada Centre
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