According to the results of a nationwide survey conducted by Active Group in collaboration with the Experts Club think tank in April 2025, most Ukrainians have a positive or neutral attitude towards Azerbaijan.
Thus, 42.4% of respondents expressed a positive attitude towards the country, of which 33.6% were mostly positive and 8.8% were completely positive. A neutral attitude was chosen by 45.4% of respondents. Only 7.7% of Ukrainians expressed a negative opinion: 6.9% were mostly negative, and 0.7% were completely negative. Another 4.5% were undecided.
“Azerbaijan is perceived quite positively by Ukrainians, which is the result of both historical contacts and current support in the international arena. At the same time, the high level of neutrality indicates the absence of deeper emotional attachment,” said Maksim Urakin, PhD in Economics and founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center.
Ukrainians generally have a positive or neutral attitude toward Azerbaijan, while the percentage of negative assessments is quite low.
The presentation of the study is available at the link.
ACTIVE GROUP, DIPLOMACY, EXPERTS CLUB, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, URAKIN
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published its first forecast for grain exports from Ukraine for the 2025/26 marketing year (MY): it expects wheat exports to grow to 16.5 million tons from 16 million tons in 2024/25 MY and corn exports to grow to 24 million tons from 22 million tons.
According to the forecast on the US agency’s website, this year’s wheat harvest in Ukraine will decrease slightly to 23 million tons from 23.4 million tons last year, while domestic consumption will decline to 6.6 million tons in this MY from 6.7 million tons in the previous MY, with carryover stocks remaining at 1.49 million tons.
As for corn, the USDA expects its harvest to increase to 30.5 million tons from 26.8 million tons last year, as well as an increase in domestic consumption to 6.23 million tons from 5.15 million tons and carryover stocks from 0.31 million tons to 0.6 million tons.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, the total harvest of feed crops this year will amount to 37.04 million tons, compared to 33.47 million tons last year, and their exports in 2025/26 MY will reach 27.58 million tons, up from 24.48 million tons in 2024/25 MY.
Overall, the USDA expects wheat harvests to increase this year to 808.5 million tons from 799.7 million tons last year, and corn harvests to increase to 1,265.0 million tons from 1,221.3 million tons.
As for wheat exports, according to the US Department of Agriculture, in 2025/26 MY, they will increase to 212.99 million tons from 206.12 million tons this MY, and corn exports will increase to 195.81 million tons from 189.35 million tons.
Most Ukrainians do not have a strong opinion about Uzbekistan, according to the results of a nationwide sociological survey conducted by Active Group in collaboration with the Experts Club analytical center in April 2025.
According to the survey, 63.4% of respondents chose a neutral position towards this country. 21.7% of Ukrainians are positively disposed, including 16.3% who are mostly positive and 5.4% who are completely positive. At the same time, 9.3% of respondents have a negative attitude: 7.9% are mostly negative, and 1.5% are completely negative. Another 5.6% of Ukrainians were unable to decide on an answer.
“Ukrainians mostly perceive Uzbekistan without strong emotions, which is typical for countries with which there are no close political or informational ties. At the same time, part of the population sees positive aspects in interaction with this country,” notes Maksim Urakin, candidate of economic sciences and founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center.
The presentation of the study is available at the link.
ACTIVE GROUP, DIPLOMACY, EXPERTS CLUB, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, URAKIN
In January-April 2025, Naftogaz Group companies paid ₴30.3 billion in taxes, which is more than in the same period of 2024, when ₴28.4 billion was paid.
“In April 2025, ₴7.1 billion was paid. Of this amount, the group transferred ₴6.4 billion to the state budget and ₴692 million to local budgets,” the company said on Monday.
As emphasized by Naftogaz CEO Roman Chumak, the group’s enterprises demonstrate stable tax payment dynamics, contributing to the country’s financial stability.
“Since the beginning of the year, the group has provided 7.6% of all tax revenues to the budget,” he said.
As reported, the net profit of the Naftogaz group for 2024 amounted to almost UAH 38 billion. According to last year’s results, the group’s enterprises paid UAH 88.6 billion in taxes to the general budget, of which UAH 81.8 billion went to the state budget and UAH 6.8 billion to local budgets.
In addition, Naftogaz of Ukraine paid UAH 15.7 billion in dividends to the state in 2024.
Ukrainians demonstrate a restrained and divided attitude towards Turkmenistan. This is evidenced by the results of a nationwide sociological survey conducted by Active Group in cooperation with the Experts Club analytical center in April 2025.
According to the survey, 61.3% of Ukrainians said they had a neutral attitude toward this Central Asian country. Those with a positive attitude (16.3%) and a negative attitude (16.4%) were almost equally divided. In particular, 10.8% of respondents consider it mostly positive, and 5.4% consider it completely positive. On the other hand, 13.3% of respondents expressed a mostly negative attitude, and 3.2% — completely negative.
Another 6% were unable to give a definite answer.
“Attitudes toward Turkmenistan in Ukraine are in a ‘gray zone’ — citizens generally do not have deep knowledge about this country. That is why we are seeing such a high level of neutrality and very limited emotional polarization,” commented Maksim Urakin, founder of the Experts Club analytical center.
The presentation of the study is available at the link.
ACTIVE GROUP, DIPLOMACY, EXPERTS CLUB, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, URAKIN
Ukrainians mostly do not have a clearly defined attitude towards Tajikistan. These are the results of a nationwide survey conducted by Active Group in cooperation with the Experts Club think tank in April 2025.
According to the data, 66.4% of respondents rated their attitude towards Tajikistan as neutral. Another 15.5% expressed a positive attitude (10.1% — mostly positive, 5.4% — completely positive).
A negative attitude was recorded among 12.3% of Ukrainians (9.9% mostly negative, 2.4% completely negative). 5.8% of respondents were unable to decide on an answer.
The data obtained indicate limited public information about Tajikistan, as well as the absence of strong emotional or political triggers in relations between the countries.
The presentation of the study is available at the link.
ACTIVE GROUP, DIPLOMACY, EXPERTS CLUB, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, URAKIN
