Russians showed high interest in the presidential speech. They strongly believe that the tasks set by the president will be accomplished.
MOSCOW, December 12, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information describing how many Russians followed the presidential address to the Federal Council; what ideas were perceived positively; how realistic Russians think the tasks were.
The interest of Russians in the president`s address to the Federal Council was higher than in the recent years. Sixteen percent of Russians watched the president`s speech live (9% in 2013); 23% learnt about the basic ideas from the news. Forty-five percent of Russians did not follow the president`s speech. The share of those who are not interested in politics has considerably decreased (from 22% in 2013 to 15% in 2014).
Among all the ideas expressed by the president, respondents favored the following ones: supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (“tax holiday” et cet.) – 7%, capital amnesty – 5%, focus on country`s sustainable development – 5%. Five percent of respondents liked all the proposals. Forty-three percent of those who knew the basic ideas of the presidential speech failed to cite any topics they liked.
Regarding the ideas assessed in a negative way, respondents mentioned capital amnesty (2%), a lack of proposals concerning economic development (2%). Remarkably, those who did not like the president`s speech in general were hard to specify what exactly they did not like (81%).
Russians strongly believe that the tasks set by the president are realistic; every second Russian who knows the basic ideas of the speech (49%) is confident that all the tasks will be accomplished in the near future (29% in 2013). A third of respondents (31%) agree that the proposals were very concrete; however, they still doubt that these tasks will be accomplished.
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on December 6-7, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 132 communities in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3,5%.
Did you follow the presidential address to the Federal Council? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||||||||||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Yes, very attentively | 17 | 23 | 12 | 17 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 16 |
I did not follow it attentively; but I learnt about its basic ideas from the news/media publications /newspapers | 27 | 35 | 32 | 28 | 26 | 22 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 23 |
No, I did not | 39 | 30 | 38 | 40 | 42 | 42 | 56 | 50 | 48 | 45 |
I am not interested in politics. It does not matter to me | 15 | 10 | 16 | 14 | 18 | 24 | 14 | 19 | 22 | 15 |
Don`t know | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
If you followed the presidential address, which concepts did you like/remember/dislike? Name, please, two or three of them? (open-ended question, not more than three answers per each column, % of those who watched the presidential address or learnt about basic concepts from the news; shown are the answers of at least 1% of respondents) | |||
Liked | Disliked | ||
Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises | 7 | Capital amnesty | 2 |
Capital amnesty | 5 | Economic recession; not enough proposals how to develop economy | 2 |
Focus on stability and country`s development; plans for the future in general | 5 | Common phrases, no details | 1 |
Resistance to sanctions / ineffectiveness of sanctions / benefits for Russia / not to knuckle under to the West | 4 | Situation in Ukraine | 1 |
Crimea is ours / sacred place / sacred land | 4 | Foreign policy | 1 |
Development and modernization of economy | 3 | None | 10 |
Army` s reform, modernization of equipment | 3 | Other | 4 |
Maternity capital; solving the problem of the lack of kindergartens | 3 | Don`t know | 81 |
Ruble exchange rate, squeezing speculators betting against the currency | 3 |
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Reform of education | 2 |
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Foreign policy | 2 |
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Ukraine`s situation / relationships / events | 2 |
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Targeted investments in agricultural and industrial sectors | 2 |
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Combating corruption; control over the civil servants` expenditures | 2 |
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Control over the work of the Government | 2 |
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Development of industry and agriculture | 2 |
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Health care system problems | 2 |
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Gas pipeline | 2 |
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Statement about taxes | 1 |
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Vladivostok is a free economic zone | 1 |
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I liked everything | 5 |
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None | 5 |
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other | 7 |
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Don`t know | 43 |
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How realistic are the tasks set by the president in the presidential address; will they be accomplished? (close-ended question, one answer, % of those who watched the presidential address or learnt about basic concepts from the news) | ||||||
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
President defined detailed and real tasks; they are likely to be accomplished in the near future | 28 | 31 | 31 | 36 | 29 | 49 |
President defined detailed and real tasks but they can hardly be accomplished | 49 | 47 | 40 | 42 | 46 | 31 |
President`s proposals were too common, not detailed; it is impossible to accomplish them | 11 | 12 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 8 |
Don`t know | 12 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 12 |
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