With time the attitudes of Russians towards the first Russian president and the 1990s events are deteriorating. Today almost every second Russian says that it was Yeltsin who created a crisis in a country; the memory of the achievements of his team fades.
MOSCOW, January 29, 2016. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the results of the survey devoted to the Russians’ assessments of the Yeltsin’s performance as well as how the default of 1998 affected their lives.
Over the recent years, the Russian assessment of the role of B. Yeltsin has become more negative: the share of those who blame him for the crisis of the 1990s has increased from 36% in 2007 to 50% in 2016. They are basically men (55%) and retired persons (62%), rarer women (46%) and young respondents (32%). At the same time, the share of those who think that the first Russian president tried to do his best to pull the country out of the crisis as well as the share of those who think that he made attempts and committed errors have decreased from 13% to 6% and from 45% to 34%, respectively.
Today it is much more difficult for respondents to remember achievements and successes of B. Yeltsin (52% were hard to mention them in 2016 against 28% in 2007); respondents tend to cite negative outcomes of his presidency (only 10% in 2016 failed to do that).
Among Yeltsin’s merits, many Russians mention overcoming food coupons and long lines (17%), revival of private property (17%), democratic rights and freedoms (17%); however, the shares of such respondents have considerably decreased since 2007 (from 30%, 23% and 27%, respectively). Respondents also cited that hope for Russia’s revival emerged (16%), and freedom was given to active and talented people (16%).
The main failures of the Yeltsin’s time are as follows: Chechen war (63%; an increase from 70% in 2007), financial crisis 1998 (62%; in 2007 this answer option was not offered), mass unemployment (56%), drop in production (55%), inflation (53%), plunder of public property (52%), non-payment of salaries, pensions and scholarships (52%). A further 55% blame Yeltsin for the collapse of the USSR.
According to the majority of Russians (62%), the 1998 financial crisis has had a negative impact on them and their relatives (almost the same share as it was in – 67%), including 25% of those who say that consequences were substantial, and it took quite a long time for them to get back to the previous level of living; 10% failed to regain the previous level of well-being. Only 2% say that they benefited from the 1998 financial crisis. Every fourth (27%) has not felt any effects of the market crash.
Every second Russian is afraid of the 1998 crisis to happen again within a year (49%). Most of those who forecast a new default are those who still have not recovered from the 1998 crisis (68%). They are mainly young Russians rather than elderly respondents (52% vs. 42%) and those with low level of income rather than people with income above average (56% vs. 41%). Simultaneously, 40% of Russians think that this scenario is impossible to happen.
The Medialogia Company carried out an analysis of the Boris Yeltsin mentions on federal television and in print media over the recent five years. A total of 15.5 thousand mentions were found in the media; most of them were registered in February 2011 (455 mentions), February 2012 (449 mentions) and October 2013 (459 mentions). In February 2011, the 80th anniversary of the birth of B. Yeltsin was celebrated at the Bolshoi Theatre. The media also reported on D. Medvedev’s present to the Pontiff representing the B. Yeltsin’s correspondence with heads of foreign states and governments, including the correspondence with Vatican. In February 2012, B. Yeltsin was mentioned in the contest of the pre-election debates. In October 2013, the media reported on the Yeltsin’s decision to storm the White House on the night of 3 October 1993.
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on January 23-24, 2016. A total of 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions and republics of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%. Russian media monitoring and analysis were carried out by the Medialogia Company using approximately 30 100 sources such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, information agencies and online media. Research period: January 2011 - December 2015.
Let us talk about the first Russian president Boris Yeltsin. B. Yeltsin governed the country during hard times. How would you assess his role? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | ||
| 2007 | 2016 |
As a president, Yeltsin did his best to pull the country out of crisis | 13 | 6 |
Yeltsin tried to pull the country out of crisis but he made lots of mistakes | 45 | 34 |
It was the Yeltsin’s fault that the country ended up in deep crisis ; Yeltsin and his team should be blamed for that | 36 | 50 |
Don’t know | 6 | 10 |
What good things has the Yeltsin time brought to you? (closed-ended question, any number of answers, %) | ||
| 2007 | 2016 |
Overcoming deficit, ration coupons, long lines | 30 | 17 |
Revival of private property; opportunity to run a business and to earn a living | 23 | 17 |
Democracy, political rights and freedoms (free elections, freedom of speech, religion, travel) | 27 | 17 |
Freedom of action for active and talented people | 22 | 16 |
Hope for Russia’s revival | 15 | 16 |
Overcoming external isolation; improving relations with the Western countries | 11 | 12 |
Excluding communists from country’s government | 21 | 11 |
Elimination of threat of a new world war | 8 | 10 |
Breakdown of totalitarian rule and intervention of state into private life | 14 | 10 |
Improving quality of goods and services | 11 | 8 |
Other | 0 | 1 |
Nothing good | 28 | 41 |
Don’t know | 6 | 11 |
What bad things has the Yeltsin time brought to you? (closed-ended question, any number of answers, %) | ||
| 2007 | 2016 |
1993-1996 Chechen war | 70 | 63 |
1998 default; devaluation of savings | -* | 62 |
Shutdown of enterprises; mass unemployment | 52 | 56 |
USSR collapse | 48 | 55 |
Economic crisis, drop in production | 48 | 55 |
Inflation, price increase | 58 | 53 |
Embezzlement, squandering state property and Russia’s resources | 47 | 52 |
Non-payment of salaries, pensions, scholarships | 48 | 52 |
Crime increase, penetration of organized crime into the power | 44 | 48 |
Deteriorating living standards and falling purchasing power among the majority of Russians | 44 | 45 |
Political instability, conflicts in the country’s leadership | 30 | 43 |
Freedom of action for swindlers and embezzlers | 32 | 41 |
Break-up of system of state education, health service and social provision | 35 | 40 |
Russia’s loss of great power status | 28 | 37 |
Lack of confidence in the future, hope for the future | 26 | 36 |
Western stranglehold, increased Russia’s dependence on the West | 23 | 31 |
Other | 1 | 2 |
Nothing wrong | 2 | 2 |
Don’t know | 3 | 8 |
* In 2007, this answer option was not offered
In 1998, a market crisis (default) took place in Russia; people lost their savings and deposits. What impact has the 1998 crisis had on you and your family? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | ||
| 2004 | 2016 |
Situation was beneficial; I got supplementary benefits | 1 | 2 |
No impact | 25 | 27 |
Negative impact but not substantially; we got recovered quickly | 30 | 27 |
Consequences were quite serious; it took us a while to get back to the previous level | 26 | 25 |
Consequences were tremendous; we still have not got back to our previous level | 11 | 10 |
Don’t know | 7 | 9 |
In your opinion, may the 1998 crisis be repeated during this year, or not? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | ||||||
|
| What impact has the 1998 crisis had on you and your family? | ||||
| Total respondents, 2016 | Situation was beneficial; I got supplementary benefits | No impact | Negative impact but not substantially; we got recovered quickly | Consequences were quite serious; it took us a while to get back to the previous level | Consequences were tremendous; we still have not got back to our previous level |
Completely confident that it will happen (it has already happened) | 9 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 18 |
I think that it will happen | 22 | 29 | 24 | 17 | 22 | 34 |
It is likely to happen | 18 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 21 | 16 |
It is unlikely to happen | 17 | 20 | 15 | 25 | 15 | 10 |
I think that it will not happen | 19 | 17 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 12 |
I am completely confident that it will not happen | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
Don’t know | 11 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 7 |
Fear index* | 6 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 27 |
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. Full or partial reproduction of the Medialogia Company materials in other media must contain a reference to the Medialogia Company.