Russia: confidence in Vladimir Putin falls sharply (poll)

Moscow (AFP) - Confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin has fallen below 40%, a first since the annexation of Crimea in a context of social unrest against an unpopular pension reform, according to a survey released Monday.

Only 39% of Russians polled in September said they trust Vladimir Putin, a 9-point drop from June, according to a survey by the independent Levada center.

This is the lowest result of Vladimir Putin since February 2014, when his confidence rating had reached 36%. The latter then jumped to 51% after the annexation of Crimea in March 2014.

Last week, the Russian president promulgated a reform providing for a 5-year increase in the retirement age. The move provoked strong discontent in Russia, prompted thousands of people to protest in the streets and provoked unexpected electoral defeats of the ruling party in September in regional elections.

The new law increases the age of retirement to 65 years from 60 today for men and 60 years against 55 currently for women. These retirement thresholds had been set in 1932, during the Soviet era, and had not been affected since.

Faced with an unusual slump, Putin proposed in a rare televised address to the nation in August to soften the reform, which the MPs were quick to do by amending the project.

According to the Levada Institute survey, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's confidence ratings also fall from 19 to 15 points and 14 to 10 points, respectively.

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