63% of Ukrainians believe that the anti-corruption reform should be a priority to implement.

According to the nationwide survey held by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation together with the sociological service of Razumkov Center, Ukrainian citizens have the following priorities.

The absolute majority of respondents — 63% — believe that anti-corruption activity is urgent. This is followed by the healthcare reform — 57%, the pension reform — 52%, the reform of law enforcement agencies, courts and prosecution — 37%, and clearing the ranks of public officials — 32%.

Interestingly, the regional distribution of these priorities is uneven. In the West and in the South, more than two thirds of the population consider the anti-corruption reform to be the most important one, while less than half the population of the Eastern regions shares this vision.

Overall, in the West, people attach a lot more importance to the anti-corruption reform (76.5%) and reforming the army (32%), and less importance to social reforms. In the East, however, the absolute leaders are the healthcare reform (62%) and the pension reform (58%); people also remember the need to rebuild the Donbas area controlled by the government – this was expressed by 31% of respondents in the South ad 29% in the East.

How do Ukrainians understand the idea of reforms?

Of course, everyone has his or her own idea of what reforms mean. But the research evidently demonstrates Ukrainians’ urgent need for change.

“These are the five key reforms that should obviously serve as the primary subject at pre-elections debates,” said Head of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation Iryna Bekeshkina.

The nationwide survey has been held by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation together with the sociological service of Razumkov Center as part of the MATRA project of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Ukraine between 13 and 20 June.

The results have been analyzed by Head of M&E at TI Ukraine Anastasiia Mazurok.

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Interestingly, the regional distribution of these priorities is uneven. In the West and in the South, more than two thirds of the population consider the anti-corruption reform to be the most important one, while less than half the population of the Eastern regions shares this vision.