Sociologists in mid-February, interviewed 1,600 people in 137 communities. Since 2001, the number of those who believe that under President Putin the scale of theft has not changed and peaked in the middle of the zero. Then 26% were convinced that corruption was less. A recent study showed that three-quarters of respondents noted the growth of corruption
The absolute majority of Russians oppose corruption in government bodies. As follows from the poll conducted by the Levada center, 62% of respondents believe that this is totally unacceptable, according to RBC. Another 27% said that corruption of officials cannot be tolerated. 5% believe that this phenomenon can be tolerated, or that bribes are sometimes necessary for business use. Other respondents were undecided. To solving everyday questions with the help of bribes, the Russians are not so intolerable: it is considered totally unacceptable 44%, 31% not ready to accept it. 10% believe that bribes in this case is acceptable.
Fell among those who are undecided on the question of the involvement of Russian officials in corrupt practices. 87% believe that officials somehow take bribes: 44% believe that a significant number of officials broke the law, 18% are sure that it did almost everything.
A quarter of respondents replied to the pollsters that the Russian government is completely corrupt. Even 51% sure it happened in a big way.
A quarter of respondents agreed with the statement that Putin will be able to succeed in the fight against corruption, after a determined purge of top officials and imposing harsher penalties for such crimes. A year ago this was sure 31% of respondents. 44% believe that Vladimir Putin will not be able to defeat corruption in the country, despite all their attempts. This is a record indicator for all the time that asked this question. 19% believe that Putin is difficult to fight corruption because he himself depends on corrupt officials.
26% believe that the President fully responsible for crimes of corruption of senior officials. Another 40% believe that the responsibility of the President lies to a considerable extent. Last year these figures were down in may 2015 such answers were given by 37 and 43%, respectively.
Putin in the view of Russians is responsible for all the corruption, as he is responsible for literally all spheres of life in the country, but to fight corruption he can’t, said the Deputy Director of the Levada center Alexei Grazhdankin. “It needs to do, people are accustomed to, that he is responsible for all. But as you cannot change the climate and deal with snow and frosts, so it is impossible to overcome this economic and psychological climate, according to the Russians,” said Grazhdankin, in conversation with the RBC.
In the complete eradication of corruption or significant reduction of its scale believe 71% of Russians.
Almost unchanged, the number of those who believe that theft and corruption among the leadership of the country was more than in early 2000-ies: think about a third of respondents (32% against 30% last year).
The results of the survey did not affect later published investigations on corruption in Russia: is the publication of the Russian branch of Transparency International about the alleged apartment of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin at a cost of about half a billion rubles, an investigation Center for the study of corruption and organized crime (OCCRP) partner of Rotenberg Gregory Baevsky, allegedly transferred the property of the women close to Putin, and joint materials OCCRP and the International consortium of investigative journalism (ICIJ) on offshore companies linked to “Putin” and a number of Russian high-ranking politicians and officials.
Deputy Director of the Russian branch of Transparency International Ilya Šuman sure that the recent anti-corruption publication “the Panama archives” will affect the mood of Russians. “The more often such cases are referred to publicly, the more people react to such information, which is reflected in the corruption perception Index,” said Šuman in a conversation with RBC. He believes that the opinion of Russians about Putin and his anti-corruption struggle as a whole will remain the same: excited last year criminal cases against governors, you can add points to the President, and the investigation of journalists will adversely affect its reputation.
