The degree to which Russians trust businesses to do what is right dropped dramatically over 2009 — the most among the world's biggest economies, according to a survey released Tuesday.
Russians’ trust toward business fell by 10 percent, according to the Edelman trust barometer, which gives a weighted sample of the opinion of an “informed public.”
While Russia experienced a substantial drop in the indicator, most of the world's biggest economies, especially Western economies, observed an overall rise in levels of trust.
"The rebound is fueled by a spike in a handful of Western countries, especially the United States where trust in business jumped 18 points to 54 percent," the report said. "It remains high in three of the four BRIC countries, with Brazil, India and China above 60 percent. In Russia, the outlier among this group, trust in business dropped 10 points," the report said.
Along with an increasingly dubious stance toward business, Russians also showed an increased distrust of the government, with that indicator also falling 10 points to 38 percent.
But not all is bad for Russia: Worldwide confidence in global companies headquartered in Russia has increased 29 points from last year's figure, reaching 57 percent, the research said. Russia trailed China and the United States, whose figures stand at 72 percent and 71 percent, respectively.
In addition, CEOs can expect a relatively easy go of it in Russia: Respondents were more likely to find CEOs to be credible sources of information in Russia than in western nations.
The survey was conducted by a telephone interview among 4,875 people between the ages of 25 and 64, in 20 countries.