Ukrainians named the places where bribes are most often demanded — survey

Some Ukrainians face everyday corruption. Certain areas see the most bribery, and the situation has worsened over the past year.

This was reported by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

In particular, 29% of respondents said that school administrators and teachers demanded bribes (money, gifts, favors, or services) from them or their family members within the past 12 months.

Another 26% reported being asked for bribes when receiving medical services (including from doctors, hospital staff, clinics, and pharmacies).

According to respondents, corruption in the sphere of land privatization, ownership, and usage increased from 14% to 25% over the year.

Additionally, 25% of Ukrainians said they had encountered bribe demands from officers of the National Police (including patrol officers).

The level of corruption in the tax sector, according to Ukrainians, rose from 6% to 13% over the year.

Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS)between 2007 and 2009, KIIS partnered on the project “Promoting Active Citizen Engagement in Combating Corruption,” implemented by Management Systems International (MSI) and funded by USAID.

As part of that project, KIIS developed a methodology for a large-scale national survey. The baseline study was conducted in 2007, with a follow-up in 2009. The study was later repeated with the support of the UNITER (2011, 2015) and ENGAGE (2018, 2021, 2023, and 2024) projects, also funded by USAID. Each wave of the study surveyed more than 10,000 respondents using comparable tools and methodology.

In 2023 and 2024, amid full-scale war, the main survey again covered 10,000 respondents. Additionally, 1,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were surveyed in the same regions, along with 2,000 asylum seekers abroad (using remote methods such as online surveys and messaging apps).

Reminder: According to the KIIS survey, Ukrainians consider corruption the second most serious problem after the war (92%). However, over the past year, only 15% of Ukrainians reported personally experiencing corruption.