Russian retaliatory sanctions in response to the Western policies are supported and considered productive by most of Russians.

MOSCOW, December 16, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data of the survey describing how much Russians support Russia’s food counter-sanctions as well as how they assess the consequences one year and a half after the introduction of the sanctions.  

As a year and a half ago, most of Russians support the ban on food imports from countries imposed sanctions against Russia (73% in November 2015 and 84% in August 2014). At the same time, the share of those who disapprove of this decision has increased from 9% in summer of 2014 to 20% in autumn 2015.

About two-thirds of Russians (63%) consider counter-sanctions to be a productive measure (80% in August 2014). Negative assessments are expressed by 23% of Russians (vs. 9% in 2014).

Since a ban on food imports were introduced, an overwhelming majority of Russians (87%) have not noticed any food deficit. Sixty-six percent are confident that the quality of foods has not decreased. Simultaneously, 64% mark the increased volume of domestic foods in the markets. Every second (52%) mention agricultural growth. 

The data of the survey suggest that Russians consume more domestic foods. In particular, they buy more Russian cheese (earlier 75%; today – 84%), fish (from 72% to 83%), fruits (from 63% to 74%), et cet.

Four out of ten Russians (42%) are confident that domestic products have higher quality that the imported ones. On the contrary, 16% say that imported foods have higher quality. One-third of Russians (32%) think the quality is equal.

The Medialogia Company analysis shows that over the recent year and a half the topic of counter-sanctions was mentioned 180 thousand times in the Russian media. The peak in mentions was in August  2014 (37 thousand). The media reported on the Vladimir Putin’s decree concerning the restrictions on food imported from the E.U., the U.S.A. and other countries that joined sanctions against Russia. Later Dmitry Medvedev signed an order expanding a list of countries falling under the Russian retaliatory sanctions.

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted November 14-15, 2015; 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions 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 29 600 sources such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, information agencies and online media. Research period: August 2014 – December 2015.

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