Most of Russians believe that Crimea must receive the same amount of financial aid as any other region of Russia.
MOSCOW, April 21, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information concerning the attitudes of Russians towards the financial assistance to Crimea.
Crimean economic self-sufficiency is assessed ambiguously by Russians. Some (45%) believe that these regions are self-sufficient; others (44%) call them recipient regions that cannot do without the assistance of the federal government.
Two-thirds of Russians (63%) are confident that Crimea and Sevastopol should be provided with the same amount of financial aid as those regions of Russia who have similar social and economic situation. At the same time, about one-quarter of Russians (23%) say that new regions must get higher amounts of aid than other regions. Only 8% of respondents oppose allocating money to these regions from the federal government. Remarkably, Muscovites and St.Petersburgians are more categoric: only 29% perceive Crimea and Sevastopol as self-sufficient regions; 58% regard them as recipient regions. Metropolitan residents often support the idea to give financial aid to these regions (36%).
What should be tackled first, according to Russians, is to increase the pensions in Crimea and Sevastopol (42%). Twenty-seven percent of Russians believe that there is need to increase salaries for budget workers in these regions. According to 29% of Russians, the most important question is the construction of the bridge over the Kerch Strait. Twenty percent of Russians believe that water and electricity supply systems need modernization to be independent of Ukraine. Creating special economic zone is significant for 17% of Russians; 16% believe that it is essential to support agricultural sector of the region. Thirteen percent of Russians express the idea to decrease plane ticket prices.
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on April 5-6, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. Data are weighted by gender, age, education, working status and type of settlement. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
Today most of Russian regions get financial aid from federal budget though in different amounts. Which of the following statement do you most agree ? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St. Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 ths | 100–500 ths | Less than 100 ths | Rural area |
Crimea and Sevastopol are self-sufficient; they do not need to get financial aid from the federal government | 45 | 29 | 50 | 49 | 51 | 44 | 45 |
Crimea and Sevastopol are weak recipient regions; they cannot go without the aid of the federal government | 44 | 58 | 36 | 39 | 39 | 47 | 44 |
Don`t know | 11 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 11 |
Today most of Russian regions get financial aid from federal budget though in different amounts. Which of the following statement do you most agree? (closed-ended question, one answer)
| |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St. Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 ths | 100–500 ths | Less than 100 ths | Rural area |
Crimea and Sevastopol must get the same amount of financial aid as those regions of Russia that have similar social and economic situation | 63 | 46 | 55 | 58 | 73 | 65 | 64 |
Crimea and Sevastopol must get more financial aid than other regions of Russia | 23 | 36 | 29 | 22 | 16 | 19 | 25 |
Crimea and Sevastopol do not need any financial aid from the federal government | 8 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
Don`t know | 7 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
Here is the list of problems that Russian government is planning to tackle in view of Crimea`s accession into Russia. Which issue is the most important, in your opinion? (closed-ended question, not more than three answers) | |
| Total respondents |
Increase pensions to the Russian average level | 42 |
Construction of two bridges to Crimea | 29 |
Increase salaries to budget workers to the Russian average level | 27 |
Modernization of water and electricity supply systems to make them independent of Ukraine | 20 |
Create special economic zone in Crimea with simplified process of registration for entrepreneurs | 17 |
Supporting agricultural sector | 16 |
Decrease plane ticket prices at the expense of federal budget | 13 |
Modernization of health care system; supple of medical equipment | 10 |
Modernization of schools in Crimea; supply of school books, gyms repairs | 9 |
Preserving previous social payments and benefits for Crimeans whish is not provided by the Russian legislation | 8 |
Creating the Ministry of Development of Crimea | 7 |
Tax payment installments to organizations operating in Crimea | 5 |
Modernization of airports in Crimea | 5 |
No financial aid to Crimea and Sevastopol | 4 |
Other | 2 |
Don`t know | 7 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!