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Russian people show maximum optimism in outgoing year — pollster

A total of 41% of the respondents polled said they were in high spirits on the threshold of the New Year celebrations, which is more than the results of five presvious similar polls

© ITAR-TASS/Alexandr Ryumin

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Most Russians name Putin Politician of the Year — pollster

MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. The Russian people have been looking forward to the New Year with optimism despite the economic situation in Russia which arouses concern, according to the results of a poll, conducted by the All-Russia Fund for Studies of Public Opinion (VTSIOM), released on Wednesday.

A total of 41% of the respondents polled said they were in high spirits on the threshold of the New Year celebrations, while during five similar previous polls the number of the "optimists" made up 33-35%.

The number of the respondents who said they experienced neither joy nor sorrow on New Year's Eve was 45%. Ten percent of the respondents said they had no hopes at all.

Nonetheless, "the Russian people have been looking forward to the New Year in a very joyful mood," said VTSIOM Board Chairman Konstantin Abramov, summing up the results.

The overwhelming majority of the respondents described the outgoing year as good, Abramov said. "We have watched positive tendencies going up in Russian society throughout the year. Analysts see a link between the positive expectations of the population with Russia's success at the Sochi Olympic Games and Crimea's reunification with Russia," he said. "Support to top figures in the Russian administration and social expectations of the population have improved as well," the VTSIOM representative said.

The poll was conducted on 46 territories of the Russian Federation on December 13-14 during which 1,600 respondents were interviewed. A statistical margin error was no more than 3.5%.

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