Business news from Ukraine

Ukrainians demonstrate strong demand for freedom of speech, personal autonomy and protection of private property, while at the same time, on issues of economic and social policy, a significant part of society expects an active role from the state, according to the results of the nationwide sociological study “Values of Freedom in Ukraine,” presented by the International Liberty Institute (ILI).

According to the study, 85% of respondents supported citizens’ right to criticize the authorities without fear of persecution, while 67% supported guaranteeing freedom of expression even for views that may be considered unacceptable or offensive. Almost half of respondents – 49% – opposed internet censorship even under wartime conditions, while 57% opposed punishment by the state for statements or opinions if they do not pose a direct physical threat.

“Almost 85% of Ukrainians, if we combine the responses ‘completely agree’ and ‘rather agree,’ support the right to publicly criticize the authorities without fear of persecution. At the same time, around two-thirds believe that freedom of speech should be guaranteed even for views that are perceived as wrong or offensive. For us, this is one of the clearest indicators of society’s demand for personal freedom,” Director of the International Institute for Liberty Mykhailo Kamchatnyi said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Wednesday.

Another 68% of respondents opposed a situation in which the majority can impose its values on a minority. ILI believes that the combination of these indicators demonstrates a clear demand for limiting state interference in the sphere of personal beliefs and expression.

At the same time, respondents’ ideological self-identification proved to be significantly less liberal. A total of 52% primarily defined themselves as free individuals with their own values who are personally responsible for their lives, while 31% primarily identified themselves as citizens of Ukraine. Only 13% described themselves as supporters of liberal or libertarian views, while 46.5% gravitate toward ideologies that envisage a more active role for the state. Almost half – 48% – reported that their political and ideological beliefs had changed or been formed under the influence of the war and its consequences.

A separate section of the study concerned language policy. According to the data presented, 65% of respondents named Ukrainian as their native language, 23.6% identified themselves as bilingual, and 11% named Russian as their native language. At the same time, 76% supported the mandatory use of the Ukrainian language in the public state sphere, while about two-thirds agreed that people should have the right to communicate in their native language in public life without state restrictions.

The human right to self-defense also received considerable support. About half of respondents supported the right to legally carry weapons for self-defense, while around 80% supported the right to use them to protect life and private property in the event of an unlawful intrusion into a home.

More than 80% of respondents agreed that even during martial law the authorities should not go beyond the limits established by the Constitution. A total of 53% supported a substantial revision of the current Constitution or the adoption of a new one. Some 77% of respondents agreed that closing media outlets or blocking internet resources may be justified only if cooperation with the enemy or coordination of military strikes has been proven.

One of the most sensitive issues was the principle of staffing the Armed Forces. A total of 46% of respondents supported an exclusively professional or voluntary army, while almost half favored a mixed model combining a professional contract-based core with mandatory training for young people in peacetime. The traditional mobilization model was supported by 3% of respondents, while more than 80% approved attracting professional military personnel through high salaries and benefits.

“We see that the traditional mobilization model does not enjoy citizens’ support – only around 3% of respondents chose it. Instead, society is much more oriented either toward a professional volunteer army or toward a mixed model with a professional core and training of citizens in peacetime. More than 80% also support attracting military personnel through competitive salaries and a system of benefits,” Kamchatnyi said.

In the economic part of the study, society proved to be significantly more polarized. A total of 44% of respondents supported an expanded role for the state in the economy and in providing social services, including 29% who took the strongest position in favor of active state regulation. At the same time, 44% of respondents said that they rely primarily on their own efforts to ensure their well-being, while 43.5% expect the state not to interfere with their personal risks.

ILI President Yaroslav Romanchuk, in turn, drew attention to the fact that Ukrainians’ attitudes toward private property and entrepreneurship are more market-oriented than their formal ideological self-identification. In particular, 69% of respondents demonstrated an understanding of the concept of private property, while almost 70% agreed with the statement that excessive bureaucracy and regulation hinder business development.

“Ukrainians as a whole do not reject private property – on the contrary, in many responses we see an understanding that a private owner manages an enterprise more efficiently than a manager appointed by the state. This is fundamentally important for future economic policy: the country’s strategic development should not automatically mean the dominance of state ownership. Private initiative, competition and protected owners’ rights are needed,” Romanchuk stressed.

He also linked problems in the business environment to excessive discretionary powers granted to officials.

“When an official, law enforcement officer or inspector is given the opportunity to interpret a vaguely written rule at their own discretion, a source of discretion arises, and with it a corruption risk. Almost 70% of respondents directly say that excessive bureaucracy and regulation are a brake on business development. Therefore, laws must be as clear as possible and leave as little room as possible for arbitrary interpretation,” the ILI president added.

According to Romanchuk, the results regarding knowledge of economic concepts also indicate the need to update economic education. A total of 46% of respondents had heard or read about Marxism, 12% about monetarism, and 4% about the Austrian School of Economics. A free-market economic model without state intervention was chosen as the most desirable for Ukraine by 18%, a model of active state regulation by 10%, and socialism by 6.5%.

Romanchuk separately advocated preserving and developing the institution of FOP individual entrepreneurship as a form not only of taxation, but also of self-employment and entrepreneurial culture. He noted that microbusiness should be regarded as an important component of citizens’ economic and social independence.

In the social sphere, the ILI president called for a transition toward more targeted assistance that would take into account not only a person’s current income, but also savings, assets, health status and other criteria of need. In his opinion, after the war, the issue of combining the state’s substantial social obligations with the need to preserve conditions for business development will become one of the key issues for fiscal policy.

“Ukraine will have to find a balance between the needs of people who will require social support and rehabilitation and the economy’s ability to finance this. If social obligations are formed without taking into account the tax burden that business is capable of bearing, we will get neither investment nor modernization. Therefore, assistance must be as targeted and transparent as possible and tied to the real needs of a specific person,” Romanchuk stressed.

He also advocated developing alternatives to an exclusively state pension system and making broader use of funded mechanisms, while in education and healthcare he called for competition between public and private service providers. According to Romanchuk, a market model in these sectors does not imply the state’s complete withdrawal from financing, but primarily a change in the mechanisms for distributing funds and greater accountability of providers for results.

During the discussion following the presentation, Romanchuk separately drew attention to the connection between freedom, responsibility and the quality of legal institutions.

“Freedom does not exist without responsibility. If the right to private property formally exists, but no one bears responsibility for violating it, then in practice that property is not protected. The same applies in other areas: a right works only when there is a clear mechanism of responsibility for its violation,” he summarized.

The study covered issues of personal freedom, the state and politics, the economy, the social sphere, private property and entrepreneurship, taxes, elections, military service, education, healthcare, pension provision, individual responsibility and social solidarity.

New Image and Marketing Group conducted the sociological survey in July 2026 at the request of the International Liberty Institute. A total of 1,600 respondents who were living in Ukrainian government-controlled territory at the time of the study took part in the online survey.