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Platform, compared to 21.6% for The People’s Servant party. Another 14.5% would vote for the pro-NATO European Solidarity party, 10.9% would vote for the anti-IMF Fatherland party, 5.7% would vote for Groysman’s Ukrainian Strategy, and 5.6% would vote for the anti-IMF Radical Party.
The first 700,000 coronavirus vaccines could arrive in Ukraine by the end of February​, Valeriy Pechayev, CEO of the importing company, Lekhim, told reporters yesterday. Contracted to import 1.9mn doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech, Pechayev predicted that the second batch, 1.2mn will arrive in May. Given that the vaccine has to be administered twice, this contract would cover vaccinating 2.5% of Ukraine’s population. “We have invested €10mn in organizing the production of the vaccine at our plant in Kharkiv,” he said. “In 2022, we plan to start the production of the finished form of this vaccine.”
Hungary and Ukraine have agreed to begin the process of resolving conflicts over language and education rights for the Hungarian minority in the Zakarpattia region, ​Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told a press conference during his personal visit to Kyiv on Jan. 27. His Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, confirmed that a working group will be formed to discuss issues on education, as well as conducting an online business forum. Maintaining his prudent statements on Hungarian activities in Ukraine, Kuleba told the press conference that he sees “no basis to speak about Hungarian separatism” in the Zakarpattia region. “Just as there is no basis to believe the Ukrainian state wants to inflict any damage on Ukrainian Hungarians in Zakarpattia,” he said. Szijjarto echoed these sentiments, stating, “Accusations tied to separatism make no sense.” The personal meeting was initiated by Szijjarto in late December, after which Kuleba arranged for an invitation, theeurointegration.com.ua news site reported. Recall, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry expelled the Ukrainian ambassador on Nov. 30, and recalled its ambassador from Kyiv the next day, in response to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announcing investigations into separatist activity by ethnic Hungarians in Zakarpattia.
2.9 ​Polls & Sociology
According to the Rating Group’s first public opinion poll of 2021, just over half of Ukrainians surveyed (52%) believe that the new year will be better than the one before. ​On the other hand, 27% of respondents aren’t expecting any changes and 18% believe this year will be worse than 2020.
The majority of Ukrainians (74%) are optimistic about the new year and only 18% are pessimistic. “Residents of Kyiv and the western regions, young people, and voters for the Servant of the People, For the Future, Ukrainian Strategy, and Holos parties were more optimistic in their expectations,” the Rating Group underscores.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is taking on the new year with a 41%% trust rating​. Though more than half of respondents gave him a negative trust rating (54%), he still ranks ahead of his political opponents. According to the survey results, 73% of respondents don’t trust former president Petro Poroshenko, while 69% deemed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko untrustworthy.
The trust rating of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who has been serving in this post since last March, remains incredibly low. Indeed, more than half of respondents said they do not trust him and the proportion of people who didn’t
18​ UKRAINE Country Report​ February 2021 ​ ​www.intellinews.com