Russians are expecting the dollar to continue to rise, but they are keeping their savings in rubles. The share of respondents who admitted to VTsIOM that they save in rubles increased from 58% in 2016 to 66% in August 2018; only 5% and 3%, respectively, had and have savings in dollars and euros. These figures, despite their conventionality, generally reflect the situation in which only an absolute minority has savings in foreign currency today. This proportion makes it possible, among other things, to talk out loud about the hypothetical conversion of foreign currency deposits into rubles due to possible American sanctions - they say that a relatively small group of citizens will be nervous, but a purely arithmetic calculation is hardly appropriate here.

It is logical that the share of savings in rubles among Russians is much higher than in foreign currency: the bulk of both income and expenses are in rubles, and outbound tourism, which requires foreign currency, was and remains the lot of the minority. In addition, the dollar, which was once a symbol of the reliability of savings, has generally lost this status in the minds of the majority in recent years, notes VTsIOM sociologist Kirill Rodin, citing survey data: the shock growth of the exchange rate at the end of 2014 and problems among foreign currency mortgage holders had an impact. At the same time, Russians do not have a clear idea of what causes the exchange rate to change. 44% of FOM respondents in August 2018 were sure that the dollar exchange rate depends to a greater extent on the actions of the Russian authorities; another 39% - on circumstances that the authorities cannot influence. But the actions of the Russian authorities are also contradictory in the eyes of Russians: 11% believe that they are playing for the ruble to rise, 7% - for it to fall, 32% - for it to hold; Another 22% are sure that the authorities are doing nothing.

But this is again a question that can only concern those who have anything to save after three years of declining real incomes. According to a September poll by InFOM for the Central Bank, 67% have no savings, and 72% have not managed to put anything aside in the last month. (According to VTsIOM, only 31% of Russians have no savings, but without specifying the amount, this could mean 1,000 rubles of personal savings.)

During periods of economic instability in the last three years, Russians increased their spending on dollars as soon as the ruble depreciated noticeably, notes Svetlana Biryukova, a leading research fellow at the HSE Institute of Social Policy. Such dynamics are not observed now, and with the decline in the attractiveness of foreign currency deposits, their volumes in banks decreased in 2017, which is facilitated by the Central Bank's policy of de-dollarization of bank deposits. Dollars and euros are of interest to those who have significant savings, which are distributed among currency baskets, but for them, the attractiveness of dollar savings in Russia is reduced not only by the risks of new US sanctions, but also by discussions about the prospects for de-dollarization of the economy.

De-dollarization of consciousness