Global Corruption Barometer 2016 survey from Transparency International showed that 29% of Ukrainians are ready not to pay bribes to stop corruption.

If according to the previous 2013 Global Corruption Barometer survey (before the Revolution of Dignity) one in three Ukrainians were ready to go to the streets to fight corruption, this year’s results showed more proactive approach to changes – 29% of Ukrainians replied that they refuse to pay bribes, 6% will only vote for clean political candidates, 5% are ready to speak out about the problem, 2% are ready to join or support an anti-corruption organization, but only 1 % will participate in protest marches or demonstrations against corrupt businesses.

The survey indicates that the problem of corruption still remains one of three biggest challenges for our country – according to 56% of respondents. 72% of Ukrainians disagreed with the statement “There is less corruption now than around 4 years ago”.  49% believe that wealthy individuals often use their influence on government for their own interests and there need to be stricter rules to prevent this, and 67% are convinced that financial support by companies to political parties and candidates should be banned completely.

The most corrupt groups in Ukraine are: government officials (65%), Parliament (64%), tax officials (62%), judges and magistrates (61%), the President and Prime-Minister (60%), local government representatives (55%), police (54%), business executives (46%), and religious leaders (32%).

Surprisingly, but 38% of service users claimed to have paid a bribe over the past year. Most often Ukrainians were forced to pay a bribe while getting services in the following institutions: public education (primary or secondary) (38%), medical treatment in the public health system (33%), road police (33%), public education (vocation) (31%), unemployment benefits (9%), and social security benefits (6%).

42% of respondents feel obliged to report corruption, 16% – think it will not make a difference, and 14% are afraid of consequences.  Ukrainians are brave whistleblowers, as one in three citizens of Europe and Central Asia does not report corruption because they fear retaliation. Of note is the progress achieved in comparison with past years: 74% of Ukrainians did not report corruption in 2013 as 63% considered it would not make a difference, and 24% feared consequences.

According to the Executive Director of Transparency International Ukraine Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, such negative attitude of Ukrainians to the anti-corruption reform increased attention of society to corruption, but also indicate the necessity to enhance the reform: «Due to the establishment of anti-corruption institutions and the implementation of new corruption prevention tools, it became known among wider public. Corrupt activities are becoming more difficult to disguise. That is why it appears that corruption in the society has increased. However, there is little information on any convictions of corrupt officials.Usually the main consequence for an official’s corrupt offence is public denunciationand ruined reputation. This is the reason why the Anti-Corruption Court must be established to deal with cases against corrupt officials. Due to the lack of such an authority, anti-corruption reform is slow, and corrupt officials, in spite of all the efforts from the state and civil society, remain unpunished».

Note: The Global Corruption Barometer is the largest ever survey tracking world-wide public opinion on corruption in different countries around the world. The survey has been conducted yearly since 2003. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from Transparency International GCB 2016. The survey was carried out face to face using a Computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) approach by TNS in the period 24/02/2016-26/05/2016. The figures are weighted and are representative of all adults (aged 18+).

Ukraine’s total sample size was 1507. Ukraine’s margin of error is 2,6  percentage points.

Full research is available below.

People and Corruption: Central Asia and Europe

Full Final Regional Results