New IRI Poll Shows Majority of Ukrainians Think Country is Headed in Wrong Direction

Kyiv, Ukraine – IRI today released its second in a series of national polls of Ukrainian public opinion.  The poll, conducted February 17 – March 7, 2012, is a comprehensive analysis of attitudes regarding the current Ukrainian economic, social and political landscape. 

Among the findings in the poll, 13 percent of Ukrainians believe that the country is moving in the right direction.  The percentage remained the same since IRI’s last national poll conducted in December 2011.  However, since December, the number of people who believe the country is moving in the wrong direction increased from 71 percent to 73 percent.  The three most important issues facing Ukrainians are: unemployment, low industrial production and corruption within the state bodies.  Seventy-four percent of Ukrainians do not support giving away part or Ukraine’s entire gas transportation system to Russia if it were to result in a reduction in the price Ukraine pays for imported gas from Russia. 

Data collected for IRI surveys is used to gauge public opinion and to assist IRI’s political party partners with building platforms based on the issues most important to the Ukrainian people.  The randomly collected sample of 1,201 men and women of voting age was collected nationwide.  The study was analyzed by Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization.  The survey was fielded by the Rating Group under the supervision of IRI.  The margin of error for the national sample does not exceed plus or minus 2.8 percent with a response rate of 56 percent.