Three-quarters of Ukrainians not satisfied with government

File photo of Barack Obama and Petro Poroshenko facing one another, with Obama gesturing

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Henry Kirby in London – May 27, 2015)

A recent survey by international polling firm TNS has shown that less than a quarter of Ukrainians are currently satisfied with the government in Kyiv, while only slightly more than a third are satisfied with President Petro Poroshenko.

51% of those surveyed said they were either totally or slightly unsatisfied with Poroshenko, with his overall approval rating in April coming in at 35.1%. Since taking office in June last year – shortly after the crisis in Ukraine’s eastern regions began to escalate – Poroshenko’s rating has fallen by 11.7pp, from 46.8% to 35.1%.

The satisfaction rating for the overall government, led by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenuk, has nearly halved since the October 2014 general election that saw it elected, from 46% down to 23.3%. Only 1% of respondents said they were confident that the government is completely fulfilling its responsibilities.

Despite the low level of faith in the overall government, respondents’ belief in the ability of the government to stabilize the current situation in Ukraine has more or less mirrored Poroshenko’s rating since July of 2014, with its approval currently at 35.9%, just marginally higher than Poroshenko’s 35.1%.

There was a stark regional difference to Poroshenko’s rating, with nearly a third of respondents in the eastern regions of Ukraine saying they were completely unsatisfied with him, at 31%, compared to only 14% of respondents in Kyiv.

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