MOSCOW (AFP) - The global financial crisis has officially arrived in Russia: in the country of Pushkin and Tolstoy, fewer men and women admit they are in love this year, and only one in five are dating.
An opinion poll released on Wednesday, three days before Valentine's Day, found only 45 percent of Russians now are in love, as Russia reels from the double blow of a full-scale demographic crisis and an economic downturn.
By comparison, at least 53 percent said they experienced feelings of love in the economic boom years from 2003 to 2007, according to the survey by the Russian Centre for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM).
"Compared to the pre-crisis period, we see a considerable drop in the amount of Russians who believe they are in love," said Olga Kamenchuk, a VTsIOM spokeswoman.
"Unfortunately, people began thinking about love considerably less."
Forty-eight percent of respondents said they were not in the mood for love, up from 35 percent in 2008.
With the ruble losing a third of its value since November and job losses kicking in, few appear to be willing to splurge on dates.
Just roughly one in five Russians currently date, with coffee shops and movies being the most popular places to meet.
But most Russians -- 59 percent -- say they believe in love at first sight, confirming their reputation as a romantic nation. So romantic, in fact, that 15 percent said that that feeling rules the world (up from 11 percent in 2007).
The crisis may be sending shock waves across the society but one thing remains unchanged: gentlemen -- at least in Russia -- still prefer blondes, the study said. Russian women, by contrast, are into dark-haired men.
The pollster also claims that the crisis may even be a boon for society where family values appeared to have been sidelined by conspicuous consumption fuelled by high oil prices.
"I think we'll be talking about strengthening of families," said Kamenchuk. "Russians understand today that besides a career, a refrigerator and a new nice car, there are also children and a wife."
Former president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had declared reversing the steady decline in Russia's population as a top priority for his presidency.
The Russian edition of the US weekly magazine Newsweek, however, sounded alarm bells this week saying the crisis would deal a blow to the authorities' plan to boost birth rates.
"In the crisis year of 2009 the majority of demographic conquests of the recent years will be lost," it said.
Clinics across Russia are reporting a spike in women seeking to terminate pregnancies due to financial difficulties related to dollar-denominated mortgages and unemployment.
In times of crisis, fewer Russians will be ready to tie the knot, but a taste for extramarital affairs should subside as people start longing for stability, Newsweek said.
"As for mistresses, they won't be dumped right away but their expenses will be pruned," said Elena Pakhomova, head of social studies at VTsIOM.
The Russian media has already gloated over the plight of the oligarchs' mistresses who are becoming an unaffordable luxury, along with vacations at the tycoons' favourite playground of Courchevel and Dom Perignon champagne.
The poll surveyed 1,600 people on February 7-8 and has a 3.4 percentage point margin of error.