Most Ukrainian citizens are either satisfied with the terms of the
gas agreements between Kyiv and Moscow or believe they are acceptable,
according to a poll carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of
Sociology on January 29 through February 5, 2009, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
A total of
1,642 respondents from all Ukrainian regions, Kyiv and Crimea
participated in the interview. The poll's margin of error does not
exceed 3.7% for figures close to 50%, 3.2% for figures close to 25%,
2.2% for figures close to 20%, and 1.6% for figures close to 5%.
Some
5.7% of Ukrainians believe the outcome of gas accords with Russia are
an achievement for Ukraine, and 45.4% said it is an acceptable result
for the country in the current situation. Some 33.7% of those polled
described the results of the talks as a loss for their country.
Moreover,
42.2% of those polled said that one of the main reasons (respondents
could give several options for his or her answer) for the gas crisis
was President Viktor Yuschenko's inability to agree with Russia, 28%
Russia's reluctance to take control of the Ukrainian gas transportation
system, 24.3% Ukraine's pro-western policy that caused Russian
indignation, and 19.5% said it was Russia's wish to show Europe that
Ukraine is an unreliable partner. Furthermore, 18.1% of those polled
said that it was Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's inability to agree
with Russia, and 15.5% the desire of Yuschenko and a number of Regions
Party politicians to return a mediator, RosUkrEnergo, to the scheme of
gas relations between Ukraine and Russia.
According to 40.3% of
respondents, the president is to blame most of all for the disrupted
talks on gas supplies to Ukraine late last year, and 11% pointed to a
group of Regions Party politicians linked to RosUkrEnergo (Dmytro
Firtash, Yuriy Boiko, and Serhiy Liovochkin). Some 9.7% placed the
blame on Tymoshenko, and 1.7% on Naftogaz Ukrainy CEO Oleh Dubyna.
Another 23.6% of respondents said that all of the abovementioned
politicians are responsible to a certain extent.
