MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. The vast majority of Russians - 84% - are worried by the economic crisis, according to a survey conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM).

Andrei Kinyakin, who heads the VCIOM Education and Science Department, revealed the results of the survey during a joint TASS and VCIOM roundtable, headlined "Problems and perspectives of development of Russian small- and medium-sized businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic."

The survey was conducted in four stages among 1,600 respondents. The first stage was held on March 16, the second - on March 24-25, the third - on April 1 and the fourth - on April 12. Each of those stages revealed that anxiety has been growing in the Russian society.

The respondents were asked the following question: "There are different points of view regarding the economic crisis in our country. How do you think, we are currently going through the most difficult times, are they behind or ahead?"

A total of 70% of respondents replied that the most difficult period is yet to come, while 14% believe that we are experiencing it now. Only 4% think that the hardest times are already in the past, while 3% are convinced that the country is not experiencing the crisis now, and see no possibility for it to happen in the foreseeable future.