One of the crucial steps to fighting corruption in Ukraine is determining the level of its understanding and perception by citizens. Therefore, to comprehensively assess the corruption situation in Ukraine, the third national survey of the population and business representatives was conducted in November-December 2021. The study was carried out by sociologists from Info Sapiens Company with the support of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine (EUACI), commissioned by the NACP at the end of 2021.
The results of the survey made it possible to highlight several key conclusions.
According to the survey, the problem of insufficient respondents’ awareness about what kind of behaviour looks like corruption remains relevant. However, the population’s consciousness regarding corruption manifestations is growing. For example, the share of people ready to report the facts of corruption increased in 2021 to 9.8% among the population and up to 22.7% among businesses.
As for the areas where the population most often receives corruption experience, contact with medical institutions is put first (as a result of mass appeals). From the point of view of citizens, the level of corruption is higher in the field of law enforcement agencies and construction and land relations.
From a business perspective, the leadership in ranking the most corrupt areas belongs to the construction and land relations, customs and suppliers of electricity, gas and water.
There is a gradual increase in the share of the population with a negative attitude towards corruption; in 2021, it reached almost half (49.4%). The level of anti-corruption activity in the population has also increased. The share of those who reported the facts of corruption to the competent authorities increased from 3.3% to 5.7% among the population; among businesses, it is almost twice as high – 10.5%.
The results of the study were presented on July 14, 2022.
Oleksandr Komarov, Anti-Corruption Expert at the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI):
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this study since it is a severe epistemological tool in understanding corruption, decomposing it into its most minor components, and, accordingly, planning and focusing on state policy and the anti-corruption institutions’ activities. In particular, due to the fact that the questions in it were formulated through specific cases, we can now separate those areas where a person has first-hand experience in corruption situations from those, where the corruption perception level in the sphere is formed due to other sources: conversations with relatives and friends, media reports, general stereotypes and beliefs that are stable in society. A detailed sectoral report allows us to understand where and in what areas a person encounters corruption and what such a collision looks like.
Oleksandr Novikov, Chairman of the NACP:
The study results are essential for the formation of a new social contract in Ukraine. Virtue must become an uncompromising value of Ukraine. Anti-corruption should create transparent and equal rules for both citizens and businesses.
This is the latest study of the state of perception of corruption in Ukraine before a full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation. Its conduction made it possible to obtain reference data, which, on the one hand, summarise the successes and failures of the anti-corruption policy before the invasion and, on the other hand, make it possible to compare post-war data with pre-war ones in the future.
EUACI is funded by the EU and co-financed and implemented by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The views, conclusions, and recommendations presented in this publication are those of the authors and may not reflect the official position of the European Union, NACP, or EUACI.
