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with EU law, first and foremost by enhancing Ukrenergo’s independence and avoiding cross-subsidisation. The resolution calls on Ukraine to upgrade its existing power plants to meet strict European environmental and safety standards and urges the Ukrainian authorities to urgently complete the modernisation of nuclear power plants and investigate the delays in these processes, in particular the upgrade of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
2.3​ ​One in two Ukrainians believe corruption the main obstacle to progress
One in two (49%) Ukrainians believe that corruption is the main obstacle to the development of the state​, according to a poll carried out by the Ukrainian Institute of the Future (UIF), Interfax Ukraine reported on February 18.
The survey found that Ukrainians consider the Verkhovna Rada the most corrupt authority (38% of respondents) with another 23% of respondents saying the Office of the President of Ukraine is the most corrupt body. One in five (20%) believed the Interior Ministry of Ukraine was the most corrupt, but the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) is seen as the least corrupt.
NABU has been in the news this week after the​ ​Rada passed a bill that gives the government the right to dismiss the head of the organisation​, which was set up at the insistence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and has been entirely outside of the government control.
According to local reports, the bill giving the government the power to sack and appoint the director NABU was initiated by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office.
The IMF was already unhappy with Ukraine’s backsliding on reforms, but the attempt to undermine the automony of NABU makes the resumption of Ukraine’s $5bn Stand By Agreement (SBA) with the IMF this year more unlikely. An IMF assessment team finished a review last week and concluded that the government “​must do more​” on reform.
The survey found that Ukrainians put the most faith in themselves and NGOs to fight corruption, according to 45% and 39% of respondents, respectively.
Among state institutions, 23% of the respondents named the president and the Interior Ministry (16%) the most effective in the fight against corruption.
In addition, the study provides data on the key problems of Ukrainians: 39% of the population pointed to domestic energy tariffs, 36% indicated low salaries and 35% said it was corruption, Interfax Ukraine reports.
According to the survey, since the previous study, which was conducted in June 2020, the problem of high utility tariffs ranked first in the list of the most pressing problems of the population.
In another move that irked the IMF, the Zelenskiy administration​ o​ rdered domestic gas and heating tariffs be “temporarily” reduced​ after prices soar as a
8​ UKRAINE Country Report​ March 2021 ​ ​www.intellinews.com