Vyacheslav Mokosov, head of Department of Sociology of Politics and Public Opinion of Institute of Social and Political Studies

– Construction of an NPP implies big investments and guarantees of employment

45% of residents of Kaliningrad show a positive attitude towards the construction of Baltic NPP in the region, say the results of the public opinion poll conducted by Kaliningrad Express monitoring group in May 2009. 19% support the project, 26% do not object to it if it complies with ecological and technical standards, 43% object, 5% do not care, 7% cannot decide. During the poll conducted by Tsirkon group in Mar 2008 only 32% showed positive attitude towards the project. So, we can see that the support for the project is growing.

I am not aware of the unemployment rate of Kaliningrad region but its growth by at least 2%-4% might have influenced the public opinion. Construction of a nuclear power plant implies big investments and guarantees of employment. The revival of the interest in nuclear energy worldwide is one more factor that may have influenced the public opinion in Kaliningrad.

This tendency can be observed all over the country. The syndrome of Chernobyl has faded away. Even though I have no specific figures, the general tendency in Russia must be almost the same as in Kaliningrad.