Public Support for Independence never higher

If the referendum on whether to declare independence had been held today, 62.8% of those who took part in the latest Razumkov Centre survey would have supported independence. This is the highest figure since such annual surveys were begun.

However the percentage of those who said yes when asked whether Ukraine really was an independent country was less than the number who gave a negative answer (37.4% and 49.8% respectively). Last year the numbers were approximately equal (43.2% and 44.7%, respectively).

Most Ukrainians (67.5%) view Independence Day as a festive day [sviato] (19.3% answered that it was a “really big festive day”; 48.2% - “an ordinary festive day like other official ones”;  30, 9%  don’t regard it as a festive day; (25, 8%  gave the answer that for them “it’s not a festive day, but an ordinary day off”; while  5, 1%  — that the day should be a working day). The percentage of those who regard Independence Day as a festive day was the highest in all the time that such surveys have been run, and the percentage who don’t consider it a festive day the least.

At the same time, a relative majority of those surveyed say that their family lost more than it gained from Ukraine’s independence (45, 2%),  against 23, 2%  who think they won more,

61.7%  think that the situation in the country, if compared with 1991, has overall deteriorated.

Asked how the situation in Ukraine had changed in various spheres of public life if compared with 1991 respondents most often pointed to deterioration in the sphere of:

fighting corruption (70, 1%,  against 61, 4% in August last year;

social protection (65, 2% , against 51, 4% last year),  

the standard of living  (63, 7% against 49, 1%),  

the economic situation (63, 1%  against 47, 8%),  

increase in crime  (63, 1%  against 53, 0%). 

35.6% spoke of a deterioration in the level of democracy, while 28.4% said it had improved  (against 28, 5%  and 32, 6% respectively, last year).

Respondents saw their own level of interest in strengthening Ukraine’s independence, the level of interest of the majority of the population and of the opposition, as higher than that of those in power.

A majority believe that the strengthening of Ukraine’s independence is hindered by:

energy dependence  (73, 8%),  

the dictate of economic conditions from international financial organizations (71, 9%),  

the presence of foreign military bases on Ukraine’s territory (55, 7%). 

Only 26, 0%  supported the view that independence was hindered by the free functioning of foreign press in Ukraine  (53, 9%  believe that it is not an impediment) 

Asked who have won most from the declaration of independence:

37, 7%  said the leaders of the country;

31.0 % said those with an entrepreneurial talent.

The survey was carried out by the Razumkov Centre from 10 to 17 August 2011, with 2007 respondents surveyed from around the country.  The margin of error was not higher than 2.3%, with the likelihood of 0, 95.