Ukrainians Rate Progress Since the Elections

Ukrainians often have a reputation for being a cynical, pessimistic people. But a new series of polls by polling group ‘Rating’ have shown that Ukrainians are becoming more optimistic – albeit slowly.

While there are no drastic changes in Ukrainian opinion, there is a marked decrease in people’s beliefs in a worsening economy, with about half as many people believing that the economic situation in the country has gotten worse since the start of the year.

A little under half – 45% – of people think that Ukraine’s economic situation will improve over the next twelve months, though about half of the people polled said that their household’s financials have not changed much since the start of the year.

Nearly 40% have reported improvements in road service, and around a quarter have said that democracy and freedom of expression have improved.

There were negative changes as well – 45% of poll respondents rated the medical situation in the country as worse, 43% reported a worsening of road safety, over half reported that the situation regarding tariffs has worsening, and a supermajority – 73% – stated that prices for goods and services have gotten worse.

And the threats to Ukraine perceived by poll respondents have also changed, with 56% saying that the biggest current threat to Ukraine is migration – with 45% pointing the finger instead at economic decline.

But the best news, perhaps, is the change in attitudes towards some government institutions in the past year, with trust in the president (66%), in the parliament (44%), and in the government (45%)  all improving.

Not all of Ukrainian government institutions have benefited from this increase in trust – prosecutors, the courts, police, and tax authorities are still all mistrusted by at least half of people polled.

/By Romeo Kokriatski