CORRUPTION IN UKRAINE 2021: UNDERSTANDING, PERCEPTION, PREVALENCE — SUMMARY 1/2
According to the survey of the population, corruption ranks third among the main problems (following the high cost of living and hostilities), the list of which was offered to the respondents –68.6% of the population consider corruption to be a very serious problem. The analysis of data in the dynamics shows that at the end of 2021, compared to the previous research wave, the problem of corruption moved from the second to the third place in the ranking of problems amid rising prices and the expected aggravation of the military conflict with the Russian Federation. According to the survey of the entrepreneurs, corruption ranks second – 73.3% of entrepreneurs interviewed consider corruption to be a very serious problem.
Like in the previous research waves, the respondents (both the population and entrepreneurs) are not quite aware of behavioral patterns which seem to be corruption, but actually they are not corrupt from the point of view of the law, and vice versa. For example, depending on the type of the proposed “projective situation”, 13.3% to 70.7% of respondents consider some cases to be corruption, but they are not, according to the current legislation. Entrepreneurs have somewhat greater understanding (vs. the population) of cases which are manifestations of corruption and which are not.
Speaking about the indicator of perception of the prevalence of corruption in general, then 85.4% of the population and 84.2% of entrepreneurs believe that corruption is somewhat or very common in Ukraine. The general index of perception of the prevalence of corruption on a 5-point scale equals 4.39 points for the public (increased slightly compared to 4.46 points in 2020) and 4.34 points for entrepreneurs (decreased slightly compared to 4.26 points in 2020).
At the same time, the index of perception of the prevalence of corruption in the field where the surveyed entrepreneurs work is 2.25 points on a 5-point scale.
According to the population, the top 3 fields in terms of the prevalence of corruption are the judicial system, customs service, and land relations. They are followed by border control, movement of people and goods across the boundary line with the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas, the activities of the National Police, the SBU and the prosecutor’s office (except for the activities of the Patrol Police, service centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), and medical Services.
According to the entrepreneurs, corruption is the most prevalent in the fields of issuance of permits and extraction of minerals, and customs; they are followed by privatization of enterprises, forestry, public procurements, and land relations. Indices of perception of the prevalence of corruption in all these fields exceed 4 points on a 5-point scale.
41.8% of the population and 36.1% of entrepreneurs believe that the level of corruption in Ukraine has increased over the last 12 months. For the population, this indicator is by 15.4% higher than that of the previous year.
Both the population and enrtepreneurs are most likely to consider the central authorities responsible for overcoming corruption along with such specialized institutions as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and (in case with the population) the National Agency on Corruption Prevention.
According to the population, among the authorities, the President and his Office, the Security Service of Ukraine and local authorities fight corruption most effectively, while the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries, and the Verkhovna Rada are the least effective in combating corruption. However, the population evaluates the anti-corruption activity of all governmental bodies below 2 points (“ineffective”).Entrepreneurs evaluate the anti-corruption activities of the State Financial Monitoring Service, the National Police and the SBU the highest, while the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries, and the Verkhovna Rada – the lowest. Although the entrepreneurs have slightly better opinions about the anti-corruption activities of the authorities than the population, even the highest ratings of entrepreneurs are below 3 points on a 5-point scale…
pdf attached (88 pages)
Summarized indicators of the assessment of corruption experience of the population by field