1/4 Russians are running out of money after 6 weeks of lockdown and minimal government support, adding to pressure that pushed Putin to start reopening the economy even as the infection total surges.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-14/russians-running-out-of-money-add-pressure-to-end-virus-lockdown?sref=9FMcma5m via @bpolitics @markets @economics @ainefquinn

2/4 Almost half of Russians have either no savings or just enough to cover them for the next four weeks, a survey by Moscow’s Centre for Strategic Research published this week showed.

3/4 Grigory Sverdlin, director of the Nochlezhka charity that organizes food handouts in St. Petersburg, says demand for meals has almost doubled.
“There’s just a huge number of people right now who are out of work and on the street, or in a very difficult financial situation.”

4/4 The rise in poverty is weighing on Putin’s popularity ratings, which slumped to an all-time low of 59% earlier this month. Real disposable incomes are set to drop this quarter to levels not seen since 2006, according to Bloomberg Economics.