World Bank Group Country Survey 2014

The questionnaire consists of 9 Sections:

A. General Issues Facing Russia:
Respondents were asked to indicate whether Russia is headed in the right direction, what they thought were the top three most important development priorities in the country, which areas would contribute most to reducing poverty and generating economic growth in Russia, and how “shared prosperity” would be best achieved in Russia.

B. Overall Attitudes toward the World Bank Group (WBG):
Respondents were asked to rate their familiarity with the WBG, the WBG’s effectiveness in Russia, WBG staff preparedness to help Russia solve its development challenges, their agreement with various statements regarding the WBG’s work, and the extent to which the WBG is an effective development partner. Respondents were asked to indicate the WBG’s greatest values and weaknesses, the most effective instruments in helping reduce poverty in Russia, with which stakeholder groups the WBG should collaborate more, in which sectoral areas the WBG should focus most of its resources (financial and knowledge services), and to what reasons respondents attributed failed or slow reform efforts.

C. World Bank Group’s Effectiveness and Results:
Respondents were asked to rate the extent to which the WBG’s work helps achieve development results in Russia, the extent to which the WBG meets Russia’s needs for knowledge services and financial instruments, and the WBG’s level of effectiveness across thirty-three development areas, such as economic growth, governance, private sector development, education, and job creation.

D. The World Bank Group’s Knowledge Work and Activities:
Respondents were asked to indicate how frequently they consult WBG’s knowledge work and activities and to rate the effectiveness and quality of the WBG’s knowledge, including how significant of a contribution it makes to development results and its technical quality.

E. Working with the World Bank Group:
Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with a series of statements regarding working with the WBG, such as the WBG taking decisions quickly in Russia, imposing reasonable conditions on its lending/ investments, disbursing funds promptly, increasing Russia’s institutional capacity, and providing effective implementation support.

F. The Future Role of the World Bank Group in Russia:
Respondents were asked to indicate what the WBG should do to make itself of greater value in Russia, and which services the WBG should offer more of in the country.

G. Russia’s Role as a Global Donor for Development:
Respondents were asked about their views on Russia’s role as a donor providing assistance to developing/poor countries.

H. Communication and Information Sharing:
Respondents were asked to indicate how they get information about economic and social development issues, how they prefer to receive information from the WBG, and their usage and evaluation of the WBG’s websites and social media channels. Respondents were also asked about their awareness of the WBG’s Access to Information policy, past information requests from the WBG, and their level of agreement that they use more data from the WBG as a result of the WBG’s Open Data policy.

I. Background Information:
Respondents were asked to indicate their current position, specialization, whether they professionally collaborate with the WBG, their exposure to the WBG in Russia, which WBG agencies they work with, and their geographic location.

The questionnaire was prepared in English and Russia.