Ukrainians becoming more realistic

We are promised mountains of gold during every election campaign: higher pay and birth rate, affordable housing, stable currency exchange rate, you name it. However, 73 percent of Ukrainians do not believe any of these promises given by the current presidential hopefuls, while 70 percent are convinced they can make their life better relying only on their own resources. These are the results of a poll called “What Ukrainians Believe and Distrust,” carried out by Kyiv’s International Institute for Social Research this December.

Ukrainians believe that the presidential candidates have not been forthcoming about their income (88 percent of the respondents regard their personal income statements as false). Nearly 80 percent of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine is moving in the wrong direction, so they are inclined to trust foreign governments to help them make their life better (38 percent of the respondents expect this from Russia and 28 percent from the European Union).

Sociologists point to the traditional trend among the residents of western Ukrainian regions who pin more hopes on the EU and those in the eastern regions looking Russia’s way. Despite popular distrust in the powers that be, most Ukrainians (40 percent) believe that the next year will be better than this one. Sociologists assure that these moods are proof that Ukrainian society is becoming more mature and realistic.