Nearly 60% of Ukrainians see ‘positive changes’ in fight against corruption: poll

Most Ukrainians believe that there are some "positive changes" in fighting corruption in Ukraine, a new poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, published on Wednesday, has shown.

Corruption is widely believed to be one of Ukraine's most pressing issues, with most of external financial assistance conditioned on implementing effective anti-graft measures.

According to the poll, 59 percent of Ukrainians believe that genuine effort is being undertaken in the country to deal with corruption and see ‘positive changes’ in that regard.

34 percent, however, say that the recent corruption cases are evidence of "hopeless corruption and no positive changes".

Ukrainians living in western regions are more inclined to deem anti-graft efforts in Ukraine more positively, while those in the east are the most sceptical.

In addition, of those who are critical of the situation with corruption in Ukraine, 66 percent oppose territorial concessions to Russia, compared with 88 percent of those who believe it is positive.

The poll, carried out from 29 September to 9 October via telephone interviews, encompassed a total of 1,010 respondents aged 18 and older in all regions of Ukraine, except for the Russian-annexed Crimea.