Survey: 87% of Russians Feel No problems from Western Sanctions

The vast majority of Russians (87 percent) believe that Western sanctions against Russia did not create any particular problems for them personally and for their families. This is evidenced by the results of the Levada Center poll. This is the maximum indicator for the entire period of research since the spring of 2014, when the first sanctions were introduced. Only 10 percent of respondents now speak of serious problems due to sanctions. This indicator was maximum in January 2015 - 34 percent of respondents. Overall concern about sanctions is also declining - now only 31 percent of Russians are experiencing it, and 67 percent of respondents are not concerned about restrictive measures against Russia. Although back in November 2018, 43 percent of respondents experienced such concern. In a regular interview published on Monday in the framework of the TASS project “20 Questions for Vladimir Putin,” the president said that as a result of the sanctions, Russia lost about $ 50 billion, but was able to compensate for them. "Yes, they do not care about these sanctions," Putin said, adding that the sanctions imposing forced the country to "use their own brains." Russia began to actively develop import substitution, Putin explained. The head of the Accounts Chamber, the former Minister of Finance of Russia Alexey Kudrin, previously stated that Western sanctions cost the Russian budget half a percent of GDP per year.

• Western countries began to impose sanctions on Russian officials, companies and banks after Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014. Kiev and Western countries consider this move as a violation of international law. Moscow calls the accession of the peninsula "restoration of historical justice."
• In October, experts at the RANEPA and the Center for Economic and Financial Research and Development estimated Russians’ losses created by counter-sanctions on products at 445 billion rubles (counted in prices for the 2013 year). Country residents continue to pay sanctions out of their pocket, the report noted.