More than a third of Russians have not noticed the crisis

Published: March 5th, 2015

 "What does Rosagroleasing do? –the MEF co-chair Babkin asks. – It quickly buys combines and tractors... abroad, while domestic appliances (that cost several times cheaper) find no sales, production collapses, and workers are reduced".

Experts clearly see how the country is plunged into economic depression. Meanwhile, 35% of Russian respondents asked by sociologists see no crisis and are not afraid.

 Anti-crisis plan of the government impressed few specialists. According to the economist Vladislav Zhukovsky, there is really no plan, it got only 3% of the GDP, for comparison: in 2009 on anti-crisis measures 23% of the GDP were allocated.

 "The government is like an old man, who looks out of the window: it's raining, let us wait until the sun looks out. They hope to outstay a couple of years while oil prices are low..." – the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Institute of demography, migration and regional development Yury Krupnov says. According to him, "economics eats the population away" – the banking sector will thrive during the crisis again, but for the average Russian a real inflation will be up to 40 % by the end of the year. According to economists' forecasts, one out of every 10 working-age Russians will be without a job by the end of the year. There is already a record rise of unemployment – by 2.2% on a weekly basis. The level of consumer ability of the Russians only this winter fell by 30-50%.

 "Much has been said about the development of production, but all productions built in the last 15 years were "screwdriver" ones, - Krupnov continues. - Someone from abroad has built a factory in Russia, we assemble something here from imported parts and sell ourselves. Now, when impoverished Russian population can no longer buy imported cars and other goods collected in Russia, foreign businessmen close production and go away from Russia."

 The President of the Russian Association of agricultural machinery manufacturers "Rosagromash" Konstantin Babkin found nothing new in the anti-crisis plan of the government too. For example, one of the anti-crisis measures is to give 2 billion roubles to Rosagroleasing, so that it used the money to lend for the purchase of equipment for farmers. "What does Rosagroleasing do? – Babkin asks. – It quickly buys combines and tractors... abroad, while domestic appliances (that cost several times cheaper) find no sales, production collapses, and workers are reduced".

 Unlike economists, many Russians do not see anything catastrophic in the situation in the country. This was revealed in a recent survey of the Institute of sociology RAS. Only two thirds of the population believe that there is a crisis in the country.

 Such a flippant attitude to the crisis sociologists explain by the fact that the Russians "have gained fat" in recent years – bought durable goods, made grocery stocks. Roughly speaking, an average person hopes that, by the time he ate all stashed buckwheat, oil price would go up again. In comparison with the 90-ies of the last century self-esteem of the Russians has grown. If in the Yeltsin’s era, it was still a "scoop", now in the eyes of every third Russian we are a great power, equal in power only to the USA and China.

 The main threat 62% of the respondents see in machinations of external enemies. Russians are ready to refuse from many things for "strengthening of the Fatherland": to forget about imported products (80%), Western goods (64%), trips in the US and Europe (55%), to withdraw from savings in foreign currency (51%) and Internet (37%), if it is banned.

 Perhaps these sentiments are the real anti-crisis plan of the government?

 Publication source: mirnov.ru

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