Half of Ukrainians want immediate solutions for corruption in Defence Ministry

Almost half of Ukrainians are in favour of the immediate prosecution of people involved in corruption in the Defence Ministry, while the same number believe that it is necessary to conduct a longer and more thorough investigation.

Source: Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), according to the results of a survey conducted between 14-22 February 

Quote: "There is a debate in society about the Defence Ministry... The issue has polarised Ukrainians: 46% believe that it is better to investigate more thoroughly and for a longer time, while at the same time the same number (47%) of respondents believe that there should be immediate decisions on the slightest suspicion of corruption."

Details: Sociologists noted that they asked Ukrainians this question after the scandal concerning possible corruption in the Defence Ministry, which shook the country in early 2023.

One half of Ukrainians are convinced as for now that everyone should be immediately removed from office and prosecuted for the slightest suspicion of corruption, because this is especially important during times of war.

Others believe that this will provoke instability within the Defence Ministry and negatively affect the country's defence capabilities and the acquisition of weapons from the West, so it is better to investigate such suspicions more thoroughly, albeit for a longer time.

The study was conducted between 14-22 February. Two thousand and two respondents over the age of 18 living in all regions of Ukraine (except Crimea) were interviewed using the telephone interview method based on a random sample of mobile numbers. The sample did not include residents of territories that were temporarily beyond the control of the authorities of Ukraine until 24 February (Crimea, Sevastopol, some districts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts), and the survey was not conducted among citizens who had left the country after 24 February.

Formally, under normal circumstances, the margin error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) did not exceed 2.4% for indicators close to 50%, 2.1% for indicators close to 25%, 1.5% - for indicators close to 10%, and 1.1% for indicators close to 5%.

A certain systematic deviation is added due to conditions of war, in addition to the specified formal error. However, sociologists believe that the results obtained are still highly representative, offering a fairly reliable analysis of the public mood.

Background:

• ZN.ua reported on 21 January that the Defence Ministry procured food for soldiers which was two or three times more expensive than in shops in Kyiv. Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, already involved in the case of embezzlement of US$580,000 during the procurement of military ammunition, signed a contract with the Aktyv company in December. 
• Information about "chicken eggs for 17 hryvnias" went viral: the journalists’ investigation mentioned the price per egg, even though the document contained the price for 100 grams. 
• The Ministry of Defence called the information about food being too expensive as misleading and manipulation and promised to turn to the Security Service of Ukraine. Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov denied the accusations of his ministry. Later in his interview with Ukrainska Pravda, Reznikov admitted that he was too emotional and promised to thoroughly check all facts discovered by the journalists. 
• Viacheslav Shapovalov, Deputy Minister of Defence, resigned on 24 January 2023 due to a scandal over food procurement for the Ukrainian military at inflated prices. Bohdan Khmelnytskyi was fired from the position of the head of the state procurement department at the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, a fact that became known on 25 January. 
• Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal issued instructions that the state procurement system for the Armed Forces of Ukraine be updated, to include the publishing of prices for food and goods.
• At the end of February, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine published updated contracts for the procurement of food products for the army; the food supply service will range from UAH 137 to UAH 144 [approximately US$3.71-3.9], the terms of the contracts have been shortened, and food prices have decreased. In particular, eggs will cost UAH 8-9 [equiv. to approx US$0.22-0.24] each.

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