CHANNELS OF RAGE
Translated by A. Ignatkin
Source: Vedomosti, October 24, 2006, p. A4
Agency WPS
What the Papers Say Part B (Russia)
October 24, 2006 Tuesday
Editorial
Immigration ranks 25th on the list of concerns for Russian citizens;
The ethnic conflict in Kondopoga will be remembered for a long time
to come. St. Petersburg and Voronezh are on the way to becoming
cities dangerous for foreign students. Pollsters maintain that ethnic
intolerance, once concealed, is surfacing. Why would it do so? And
why now?
BODY:
The ethnic conflict in Kondopoga will be remembered for a long time to
come. St. Petersburg and Voronezh are on the way to becoming cities
dangerous for foreign students. Russians and Armenians are at each
others’ throats in the town of Bogandinsky in the Tyumen region.
Pollsters maintain that ethnic intolerance, once concealed, is
surfacing. Why would it do so? And why now?
The State Statistics Committee claims that real incomes in September
2006 were 10.1% greater than in September 2005, averaging 10,077
rubles a month. However, Russia’s richest 10% end up with 26% of all
income and the poorest 10% with 1%.
Russian citizens are dissatisfied with the existing system of health
care and education, the quality of housing and communal services,
corruption in local government structures and the police. The data
compiled by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) indicate the public
is concerned about the following issues (in descending order): high
tariffs for housing and communal services (46%), alcohol abuse (37%),
inflation (36%), medical services and medicines they cannot afford
(32%), shortage of money for food and commodities (28%), difficulty
finding a good job (28%), bureaucracy and civil servants’ tyranny
(25%), drug abuse (25%), housing shortages (21%), unemployment (20%),
corruption (19%), low quality of medical and social services (16%),
and so on. Problems of immigration were mentioned by only 5% of
respondents, ranking 25th on the list of concerns for Russian citizens.