Socio-Political Moods of the population: July 2018
• According to the results of the research carried out by the Sociological Group “Rating”, Yulia Tymoshenko remains the leader of the presidential rating – 17.1% of those who intend to vote and have decided on their choice are ready to support her. 9.7% are ready to give their votes for A.Hrytsenko, for Y.Boyko - 8.9%, V.Zelensky - 8.5%, O.Lyashko - 8.1%, P.Poroshenko - 7.8%, S.Vakarchuk - 6.6%, Y.Murayev – 4.2%, V.Rabynovich – 3.7%, O. Tyahnybok – 2.6%, A.Sadoviy – 2.2%, S.Taruta – 1.5%, A.Yatsenyuk – 1.3%. R.Bezsmertnyi – 1.2%.
• Among the respondents who intend to vote, almost every fifth has not decided on the choice.
• Considering the rating of the "second choice", S.Vakarchuk (5.3%), Y.Tymoshenko (4.9%), V.Zelensky (4.7%), and A.Hrytsenko (4.7%) share the leading positions.
• Anti-rating is still headed by P.Poroshenko: almost a half of the polled would not vote for him in any case. 28.5% would not vote for Y.Tymoshenko, for A.Yatsenyuk - 26.9%, O.Lyashko - 26.2%, O. Tyahnybok - 18.9%, Y.Boyko - 16.1%, V.Rabynovich – 15.6%.
• Three-quarters of the respondents believe the things in Ukraine are going in the wrong direction, 13% - express the opposite opinion, 12% - hesitate to estimate this issue.
• Considering the problems’ perception, the war in the East of Ukraine and corruption still remain the most important national problems, while at the personal level social problems prevail: low salaries and pensions, high tariffs.
• The number of the pro-Western integration supporters prevails over the number of this vector’s opponents: 50% stand for the EU integration, 28% - against; 42% support the Euro-Atlantic integration, 35% - against.
• Given the choice on different economic unions integration, 42% of the respondents support the European Union integration, 36% - the equidistance from Russia and the EU. 11% support integration with the Customs Union, the same number - have not decided. At the same time, within the regional context, equidistance supporters prevail in the Southern and Eastern regions (40-45%). Meanwhile, in the South, the number of those who support joining the Customs Union is half as much as compared to the number of the European integration supporters, while in the East - these numbers are almost identical.
• 61% believe the Ukrainian language should be the only state language, while Russian should be freely used in all spheres of life. 17% stand for granting Russian language with the official status in certain regions while keeping the state status of Ukrainian, 19% support the state status of both Ukrainian and Russian. The highest number of supporters of granting Russian language with a certain status was recorded in the South and East. At the same time, even in these regions, the number of those who support the status quo in the state language policy is 40-45%.
• The most positive attitude was recorded towards Belarus (74%), Canada (68%), and the European Union (68%).
• 58% are positive towards the United States, 27% - are negative, the CIS - 44% and 31% respectively, Russia - 35% and 52%. The attitude towards the international organizations is as follows: 58% are positive towards the UN, 20% - negative; OSCE - 50% and 26% respectively, NATO - 49% and 30%, IMF - 39% and 35%. A quarter of the respondents could not express any attitude to the indicated international institutions. Western countries and institutions are relatively better perceived in the West and Center, while Belarus, the CIS, and Russia - in the South and East of the country.
• Two-thirds support peaceful solutions of the occupied Donbas problem: 32% stand for the termination of hostilities and the recognition of these territories as the temporarily occupied (freezing of the conflict); 24% support granting these territories with independence or the federal status of the region as part of Ukraine; 9 % support their complete separation. In contrast, 21% support the continuation of the hostilities until the full restoration of the Ukrainian authorities throughout the Donbas. The idea of the armed conflict resolution in the Donbas is not dominant in any of the macro-regions of the country.
• Only 9% of the polled indicated that they were well aware of the content of the Minsk agreements. 49% stated that they were familiar with them superficially, heard about them in the media. Almost 40% of the respondents are not familiar with the content of these agreements at all.
• Only 14% believe that Ukraine must fully comply with all the conditions laid down in the Minsk Agreements. In its turn, 17% consider it necessary to withdraw from the negotiation process and make decisions without the international intermediaries’ participation. On the other hand, a relative majority (32%) argues that it is necessary to review these agreements and sign new ones. One-third failed to answer this question. The more the respondents are familiar with the agreements’ content, the more clearly they express their opinion on their future. Over the last year, the number of those who support the Minsk agreements review and signing the new ones has somewhat increased.
Audience: residents of Ukraine aged 18 and older. The sample is representative in terms of age, gender, region, and settlement type. Total sample: 3200 respondents. Personal formalized interview (face-to-face). The margin of error does not exceed 1.7%. Period of the survey: 22 June – 5 July, 2018
