The Harris Poll® #19, February 20, 2008

Majorities in Five European Countries and the U.S. Believe Russia is an Unreliable Energy Supplier

While the Cold War may be over, this does not mean those in the five largest European countries and the U.S. are willing to trust Russia as an energy supplier. In fact, majorities in Italy (54%), Germany (59%), Spain (69%), Great Britain (70%), the U.S. (70%), and France (71%) say they regard Russia as an unreliable energy supplier.

These are some of the results of a Financial Times/Harris Poll conducted online by Harris Interactive® among a total of 6,448 adults aged 16 to 64 within France; Germany, Great Britain, Spain, the United States, and adults aged 18 to 64 in Italy, between January 30 and February 8, 2008.

Not only is Russia regarded as unreliable, at least two-thirds in each of the six countries would dislike purchasing their household gas and/or electricity from a Russian owned company. From two-thirds of adults in Italy (66%) to over three-quarters (77%) of adults in Great Britain, all say they would dislike purchasing their gas or electricity from Russia.

When it comes to Russian companies making investments in these countries, Spain is the only country to favor this idea. Over half (55%) of Spaniards would favor Russian companies making investments in their country while majorities in the other countries all oppose this idea. Over half of Italians (53%), Germans (57%) and Americans (57%) all oppose Russian companies investing in their country while six in ten (61%) French adults also feel this way. Great Britain has the strongest feelings as almost two-thirds (65%) would not want Russian companies investing in their country.

While there seems to be all this animosity towards Russia, when asked if they regard Russia as a friend or foe, strong majorities in Germany (62%), Italy (65%), Spain (67%) and France (69%) as well as just over half of Americans (56%) all say they regard Russia more as a friend. Three in five (60%) adults in Great Britain, however, regard Russia more as a foe.

While most do not consider Russia to be an enemy anymore, there is not a great deal of warmth towards them. Whether it is purchasing gas and electricity or even having Russian companies just investing in these countries, the general sense is one of dislike, which may equal distrust. Time could heal these attitudes, but actions from Russia are probably more necessary.

"We would now like to talk to you about household energy. How reliable or unreliable do you regard Russia as an energy supplier?"

Base: All EU adults in five countries and U.S. adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

"How much would you like or dislike buying your household gas and/or electricity from a Russian-owned company?"

Base: All EU adults in five countries and US adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

"How much do you favour or oppose Russian companies in making investments in [the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.S.]?"

Base: All EU adults in five countries and US adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

"Do you regard Russia as more of a friend or more of a foe?"

Base: All EU adults in five countries and US adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

This FT/Harris Poll was conducted online by Harris Interactive among a total of 6,448 adults (aged 16-64) within France (1,076), Germany (1,111), Great Britain (1,087), Spain (1,109) and the United States (1,020) and adults (aged 18-64) in Italy (1,045) between 30 January and 8 February 2008. Figures for age, sex, education, region and Internet usage were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult populations of the respective countries. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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