Poll reveals corruption as primary concern for Ukrainians apart from ongoing war

The biggest problem of Ukraine and its citizens is the war, followed by corruption and low salaries and pensions.

This result was revealed by a sociological survey of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, conducted on September 30 – October 13, Rubryka reports.

As sociologists stressed, the war is certainly the biggest problem for Ukraine and its citizens. 

However, if you ask which problems outside the war are of most concern to Ukrainians, then the specified list includes corruption (63%) and low salaries and pensions (46%).

Other important problems are high utility tariffs, demographic risks, and unemployment.

Experts state that in all regions, most respondents mention corruption and low salaries/pensions as the key problems apart from war.

54% of respondents are convinced that the fight against corruption should primarily be the responsibility of the new anti-corruption bodies created after 2014.

At the same time, quite a few respondents also talk about the role of the President/Office of the President (43%) and conventionally "old" law enforcement agencies, such as the police, security service, and prosecutor's office. Residents of all regions expect proactive activity from the new anti-corruption infrastructure. 

The study lasted from September 30 to October 13. 2,007 respondents living in all regions of Ukraine (except Crimea) were interviewed using the method of telephone interviews based on a random sample of mobile numbers. 

The survey was conducted with adults (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, at the time of the survey, lived on the territory of Ukraine (within the boundaries controlled by the authorities of Ukraine until February 24, 2022). Residents of temporarily occupied territories could not be included in the sample, and the survey was not conducted with citizens abroad.

Under normal circumstances, the statistical error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) did not exceed 2.4% for indicators close to 50%, 2.1% for indicators close to 25%, 1.5% — for indicators close to 10%, 1.1% — for indicators close to 5%.

Under conditions of war, besides the specified formal error, a certain systematic deviation is added. However, sociologists are confident that the obtained results still retain a high level of representativeness and allow for a fairly reliable analysis of the public mood of the population.

Rubryka reported that a third of Ukrainians are convinced that the latest news about the detention and arrest of bribe-takers speaks of hopeless corruption and the lack of any changes.

However, more than half of citizens believe that an attempt to overcome corruption in the country is taking place and see positive developments.

Also, the United States noted that over the past few weeks, Ukraine had been taking aggressive measures to combat corruption and called for it to continue.

As Rubryka reported, in February of this year, it was reported that Ukraine received 33 points out of a possible 100 in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2022. This year, our indicator increased by one point, and now Ukraine ranks 116 out of 180 countries.