Russia Election: Putin's counter-sanction measures & strong idea win over electorate
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President Putin remains popular despite issues such as a strained economy caused by western sanctions and dropping oil prices. CGTN's Tang Bo visited a rural area outside Moscow to find out if Putin's idea of a strong Russia resonates.
TANG BO MOSCOW "The EU and the US introduced sanctions against Moscow in 2014 as a result of Crimea, formerly part of Ukraine, was absorbed into Russia earlier in the year. Putin retaliated by banning EU imports of fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy products. Now, that led to a boom in domestic production, and that has reportedly helped Putin win over a large number of farmers from rural areas. I found one cheese maker outside of Moscow. Let's find out if he supports Putin and why."
One poster boy for the boom in Russia's cheese production is Oleg Sirota. The 30 year old former computer programmer gave up studying livestock farming back in college, because he saw no future in the industry back then. But when Putin put an embargo on EU dairy products, Oleg realized the time had come.
OLEG SIROTA, OWNER RUSSKIY PARMEZAN "The competition between local cheese makers and those from the EU was not fair before the sanctions because the foreign companies were well subsidized by their own countries, so their dairy products were cheaper. I started my own cheese factory in 2014 after Putin issued the ban. Now local cheese production is booming and we are benefiting from it."
Oleg said that there used to be only 6 proper mass producers of cheese in Russia before the ban. Now the number has gone up to 400. In the first 11 months of last year, Russia produced more than 600,000 tons of cheese and dairy products, up 8.5 percent from the year before that. But that is not the only major reason Oleg supports Putin.
OLEG SIROTA, OWNER RUSSKIY PARMEZAN "Actually I was quite against Putin before. I even attended some opposition meetings in 2012. But Putin managed to bring back Crimea, and make the West respect our country. Putin has made Russia the country that I was dreaming about when I was a child. That's why I support him from A to Z."
To show Putin his appreciation, Oleg has made him a special wheel of cheese with the President's name on it. Additionally, Oleg and more than 100 other cheese producers in the Moscow area signed a letter requesting Putin to keep the embargo on EU dairy products.
TANG BO MOSCOW "Putin consistently scores higher in opinion polls than all his rivals combined. His ideas of "patriotic leadership", "managed democracy" and a "strong Russia" resonate well with the people. The cheese maker Oleg is one example. Right now, I'm in Moscow's central business district, and I'm about to find some Putin supporters to verify these claims."
"Putin is a strong leader. The world's respect for Russia has grown during his term."
"I support Putin because he has improved Russia's economy. I hope he makes our country better integrated into the international community."
"I believe in Putin as he has been working hard on improving people's lives."
Those who don't support Putin hope the country can make some concrete measures to improve the economy and people's welfare in the next six years.
"The country should further improve its economy, environment, and domestic production as much as possible."
"The state should help people lead a better life from now on, providing more, equal chances."
Experts say Putin enjoys wide and favorable support from almost all demographics. And that has a lot to do with his foreign policies that keeps Russia a major global power. Tang Bo, CGTN, Moscow.