MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A poll conducted last weekend that involved 1,500 respondents was released on Friday; 53 percent of Russians rate the nation's economy as satisfactory.
According to the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), a total of 35 percent of respondents view the situation as bad, 7 percent as good and 5 percent could not provide a precise answer.
In addition, the poll indicated that 36 percent of the respondents have not noticed any changes in the economic situation, 34 percent said the situation got worse, 22 percent believe that it is improving and 8 percent did not provide any assessment.
The russian economy seems to be recovering despite the introduction of gradual economic sanctions against Moscow by Western countries, German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a newspaper, noted earlier this summer. Significant improvements have been registered in such fields as industrial production, construction and trade. The only industry that demonstrated a decline in productivity so far was agriculture, the German media noted.
The Russian economy suffered a setback in 2014, as the ruble lost about half of its value against the US dollar amid low global oil prices and Western economic sanctions imposed against Russia over the situation in eastern Ukraine. Moscow denies materially supporting militia and says Western sanctions are counter-productive.
