MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. Most of the visitors to the international "Russia" exhibition and forum, which has been taking place in Moscow since November 4, feel a sense of pride for their country, Ivan Gruzdev, the director for Internal Monitoring and Student Academic Development of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, said.

"Pride is the major leitmotif of all the polls we conducted at the "Russia" exhibition. The absolute majority of respondents (above 90%) are convinced that the achievements presented at the exhibition make them proud of their country," Gruzdev said. According to him, people also answered that the exhibition inspires confidence that they live in one of the most advanced countries in the world, and that the achievements presented at the exhibition make them optimistic about the future.

According to sociologists, nine out of ten respondents noted that they learned a lot of new things at the exhibition, especially about the country's regions. As many as 85% of respondents really enjoyed what they saw at the exhibition.

According to Gruzdev, the index of satisfaction with the exhibition is one of the highest, as it is usually about 70% in such surveys. "85% is a kind of record for our surveys," Gruzdev said. He noted that for more than half of the respondents the reality of the exhibition exceeded expectations. The respondents named the expositions as well as educational programs of the forum as the most attractive formats.

Victor Poturemsky, the director of political analysis at the Institute of Social Marketing, said that focus groups (sociological interviews with groups of people, when one has a chance not just to answer a question, but to give detailed answers on a certain topic) with visitors to the exhibition showed that people primarily expressed joy, delight and excitement at what they saw. "Pride is the leading emotional state. Pride for the regions, for the country, for history, for culture," Poturemsky said.

The surveys were conducted from November 15 to December 6 among 1,293 visitors of various ages, 46% of them between 18 and 35 years old. About 40% of respondents were from Moscow and the regions, and 20% came from the Moscow suburbs.

The "Russia" International Exhibition and Forum takes place from November 4, 2023 to April 12, 2024 at VDNKh in Moscow. It was organized to demonstrate the country’s significant achievements in various economic sectors, and all 89 Russian regions are present with expositions. TASS is the general information agency of the forum.