A poll conducted by the Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) indicates that the overwhelming majority of Russians do not intend to leave their country.
85% of respondents said that they don't want to leave Russia. 13% have a different point of view. Another 2% found it difficult to answer the question, Kommersant writes.
Those who expressed the desire to emigrate said it was due to a possible increase in their standard of living (40%). Another 9% would prefer to live in a country with a different climate, 7% experience a lack of social security and stability, and 6% experience a lack of career and business opportunities. 4% admitted that they categorically do not like living in Russia.
The poll was conducted on July 4-5 in 46 constituent parts of Russia, around 1600 people took part.
The same number of people wishing to leave the country was recorded in 2011 and 2013. In 2012 and 2014 it was slightly lower, at 11%.
The head of the Center for Strategic Development of the CIS Countries under the RAS Institute of Europe, Alexander Gusev, told Vestnik Kavkaza that on the one hand, every poll has an element of chance, on the other hand, they contain technical and technological errors.
"Of course, they are not perfect, but I must say that VCIOM sufficiently representatively assesses the situation in the whole country, because it attracted a lot of material and a large number of respondents," the expert said, adding that 13% is quite a high figure, because nearly 13 people out of 100 are thinking of leaving the country.
"I have travelled to over 50 countries, visited various parts of the globe, met with our compatriots who left in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s. You know, these are old people, who regret that they left their homeland. They couldn't adapt, they didn't know the language or cultural characteristics. But young people also have difficulties," the expert shared his personal experience.
"If such a survey would be conducted, for example, in West Germany, the number of people wishing to leave the country would exceed 13%. I am absolutely convinced of this. This percentage is usually from 20 to 25% for Western Europe. For the US it is in the range of 15-18%," Alexander Gusev said.
"As for people who live in remote places, they have no money to see how people live in other countries. Therefore, we shouldn't wonder that 13 out of 100 people are planning to leave. Our goal, the task of the country's leadership, the government, the president, is to make sure that the quality of life is higher, we should have good roads to travel normally, normal food, decent healthcare, quality education," he concluded.
