Russian provincials feel sorry for money for Crimea – survey

Moscow - Simferopol, April 21 (Navigator, Mikhail Stamm) - As the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) found out, the majority of Russians believe that Crimea and Sevastopol should receive the same financial assistance from the federal center as other regions. Only a quarter believe the peninsula needs more funding than others.

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Russians' opinions on the economic situation in Crimea and Sevastopol are divided. According to VTsIOM, 45% of citizens believe that these regions can provide for their needs without attracting funds from the budget. The same number, on the contrary, believe that neither Crimea nor Sevastopol are able to “feed themselves” without subsidies. Residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg are more categorical: among them, only 29% think that these regions are able to provide for themselves, and the majority (58%) are confident that they will need help from the federal center.

The head of VTsIOM Valery Fedorov notes that Muscovites and St. Petersburg residents are more interested in the situation in Crimea than others and are more informed. “They know that this peninsula is not yet fully a pearl and that they need to invest in it,” he says.

Almost two-thirds of citizens (63%) said that Crimea and Sevastopol should receive “the same financial support as other regions.” Most often, residents of cities with a population of 100-500 thousand people think so (see table). About a quarter of Russians believe that Crimea and Sevastopol need to be allocated even more funds from the budget than other regions. Another 8% believe that they should not receive federal assistance.

“When it comes to money, everyone starts saying that they themselves don’t have enough and there is no enthusiasm,” noted Valery Fedorov. However, according to him, the euphoria from the annexation of Crimea has not yet passed, and there is no shortage of funds locally due to subsidies to Crimea. “So far, citizens are not experiencing strong dissatisfaction,” he concluded. “But the slogan “Stop feeding Crimea” has a certain potential.”