Presidential address to the Federal Assembly drew attention among Russians (an increase from 43% in 2016 to 59% in 2018). Respondents mainly favor proposals concerning defense and security.

MOSCOW, March 13, 2018. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a study devoted to the recent presidential address to the Russian Federal Assembly.

The presidential address to the Federal Assembly attracted extremely wide attention among the public: 59% were aware of its main points during the survey (an increase from 43% in 2016). Twenty percent of Russians listened to the address attentively from the beginning to the end; 39% found out about the highlights from the news programs. The 2018 Interest Index is 56 p.

The Medialogia Company analysis involved more than 60,000 mentions of the address found in the Russian mass media from March 1^st to 12^th.  

The respondents who are aware of the content of the presidential address remember and liked topics such as military capacity, military-industrial complex (35%) followed by healthcare reform (11%) and public well-being (6%). Less than 10% mentioned ideas they disliked. Respondents would like to know more about the problems of the retired persons (7%), increase in salaries and minimum wage (5%).

Russians perceived the presidential address mainly in a positive way: 60% show enthusiasm. Every third (30%) agrees with the statements and ideas expressed; at the same time, they say that the same things have already been told but they did not come into being.

An overwhelming majority of Russians (81%) who kept track of the address or found out about the main topics from the news consider that the tasks mentioned by the president are very specific and realistic; however only 34% believe that they will be implemented in the near future, while 47% say that nothing will be done due to corruption and bureaucracy.

Top three most important tasks among those expressed by the president involve solving healthcare problems (56%), decreasing poverty level and increasing income level (46%), and developing education (35%).

*Interest Index shows how interested the Russians are in the presidential address to the Federal Assembly. The higher the value is, the more interested the Russians are. The Index is based on the questions “This week President Putin delivered his address to the Federal Assembly. Did you follow the presidential performance or not?” The Index is calculated as the sum of answers; the answer “Yes, I followed the presidential address very attentively” corresponds to “1”; the answer “I did not follow the presidential address attentively” gets “0.66”; the answer “No, I did not follow the presidential address” gets “0.33”; and the answer “I am not interested in politics; it does not matter to me” corresponds to “0”. The Index is measured in points and can vary from 0 to 100.

The VCIOM-Sputnik initiative Russian nationwide survey was conducted on March 6-7, 2018. Sample involved 2,000 Russians aged 18 and over, and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.2%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

The 2006-2015 results are based on household surveys. In 2016, a total number of 1,600 respondents were surveyed using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%.

The Russian media monitoring and analysis is carried out by the Medialogia Company using the Medialogia database of 43,400 sources such as television, radio, newspaper, magazines information agencies and online media. The period of study was January – May 2017.

* in 2008-2011 the question referred to D.Medvedev’s address

* in 2008-2011 the question referred to D.Medvedev’s address

* in 2009-2011 the question referred to D.Medvedev’s address

** in 2009-2014 the answer option was “President pointed to realistic, detailed tasks but  they are more likely not to be implemented”

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! The use of the Medialogia system content, fully or partially, must be accompanied by the reference to the Medialogia Company.