Page 19 - RusRPTJuly18

Sanctioned Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg reportedly had $1bn of his funds in Swiss banks accounts frozen , which feared punishment due to the new US sanctions, Forbes Russia reported on June 5 citing unnamed sources. The latest round of US Treasury Department (USTD) April 6 round of sanctions hit Vekselberg and another billionaire Oleg Deripaska the hardest. Previous reports suggested that Vekselberg's utility major T Plus could be sold to Gazprom's energy holding as part of the state support effort , while another tycoon Prokhorov bought 39.4% in his International Financial Club (IFC) Bank . Now Vekselberg is preparing to file lawsuits against UBS, Credit Suisse and Julius Baer to recover access to his accounts, Forbes Russia suggested on June 5, citing an unnamed source in his Renova investment group. Latest reports suggested that Renova has received state help to repay over CHF1bn ($1bn) to Western banks such as JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, and UBS.
2.11 Polls & Sociology
Electoral support for Russian President Vladimir Putin among Russians has fallen to its lowest level since 2013 amid rising gasoline prices and recently announced plans to raise the pension age and value-added tax, according to the latest weekly poll conducted by the Public Opinion Fund. About 54% of Russians would vote for Putin as of June 17, compared to 62% the prior week and 64% at the end of May. Public approval of Putin’s activity as president was at 72% as of June 17, compared to 77% as of June 10.
Two polls by the Levada Center quantify Russian attitudes towards the protests in Armenia and the May 5 protests against Putin’s reelection . Though just 17% of Russians support the May 5 protests led by Aleksei Navalny, 29% express sympathy and respect for the protestors. Meanwhile, only 24% of Russians express sympathy and respect for the protests in Armenia. Russians were far more aware of the Armenian protests than they were of protests in their own country (51% vs. 39%). At the same time, a larger segment of the population showed apathy toward the Armenian protestors than the Russian opposition (58% vs. 47%). Denis Volkov, a sociologist at the Levada Center, told Vedomosti that Russian television coverage explains this pattern. Federal TV channels covered the Armenian protests, but did not encourage any particular reaction to them. Only those who read internet news, however, had heard about the May 5 protests. This audience was already more favorably inclined towards the Russian opposition.
Most Russians polled by the All-Russia Public Opinion Center (67%) feel no impact of anti-Russian sanctions while 24% of the respondents say their financial position has been affected by the restrictions, according to the poll results released on June 20..
As the poll suggests, Russians are divided on the benefit or the harm of the sanctions for the Russian economy: 34% of those polled believe that the sanctions have had a beneficial effect compared to 30% of the respondents who hold the opposite opinion while every fifth respondent (20%) sees no impact of the sanctions policy on the country’s economic development.
Responding to a question about positive consequences of the sanctions, the Russians noted a boost in the country’s economic development (50%) and
RUSSIA Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com