22.01.08

The Synovate Russia research company, a subdivision of Synovate Worldwide, polled 1200 people from 16 regional capitals. 44.1% of large cities’ population anticipates their income to grow, 31.5% expect to keep the same income level, and 9.5% expect a decrease.

Most optimistic are younger people (18-24 years old) – 62.7% expect growth. These are students or businessmen with college degrees, whose monthly income exceeds 25,000 rubles.

Most of the respondents, 53.3%, see prosperity as coming from their own resources. 42.3% hope for the help of the government and 8.3% believe in positive consequences of rising oil prices on the Russian economy.

Expectations based on government and oil prices both represent hopes for an increase in government stipends, explains the research company. During the first 11 months of 2007, actual personal income increased by 10.1%, while price of Urals oil grew by 57%.

However, these results do not represent Russia as a whole according to the Federal State Statistics Service’s poll of 5000 from all regions of the country, apart from Chechnya. Fourth-quarter consumer confidence decreased with pessimists outnumbering optimists by 5% (in the III quarter – by 0.5%). In 2008, 12% expect to improve their wellbeing, 17% anticipate a decline, and over half of population does not expect any change. Two thirds of those polled fear that inflation will have a negative effect on their wellbeing in 2008.

To judge from a third poll, optimism is common mostly for the populations of large cities and is not common in more than 30% of the total population. 13 800 were polled.

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