Ukrainians have the most positive attitude toward Germany, the UK, Norway, and France, while Hungary, China, Iraq, and Serbia are among the countries with the worst ratings. This is evidenced by the results of a study conducted by Active Group and the Experts Club analytical center at the end of August.
“We conducted a representative survey of 800 respondents at the end of August, taking into account gender, age, and region of residence. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%. This is not the first study of this type, but this time we selected 50 countries based on economic criteria – we asked about the countries with which Ukraine trades the most,” said sociologist and founder of Active Group Andriy Yeremenko at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.
According to him, the study showed that public opinion is clearly divided between Western countries and countries outside the West.
“Ukrainians most often associate the achievement of peace with the European Union – 42% of respondents believe this. The United States is supported by almost 26% of respondents, and the United Kingdom by 13%. Other large countries, such as China, India, and Brazil, are not really considered to be contributing to a peaceful settlement in Ukraine,” Yeremenko emphasized.
Alexander Pozniy, director of the research company Active Group, added that in economic terms, Ukraine’s key partners are China, Poland, Germany, Turkey, and the United States.
“At the same time, attitudes toward them vary greatly. For example, more than 76% of Ukrainians have a positive attitude toward Germany, while only 12% have a positive attitude toward China, and 40% have a negative attitude. The case of Hungary is even more critical, with 16% having a positive attitude and 55% having a negative attitude,” he said.
Maksym Urakyn, founder of Experts Club and deputy director general of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, drew attention to economic imbalances in Ukraine’s trade with its leading partners.
“In the first half of 2025, Ukraine’s foreign trade deficit amounted to $18.5 billion, while in 2024 it was $12.4 billion. In other words, we have a significant deterioration. In particular, the negative balance exceeded $7 billion in trade with China alone, $2 billion with Germany, over $1 billion with Poland, and about $2 billion with the United States,” the expert emphasized.
He clarified that Ukraine remains a powerful exporter of agricultural products—grains, oilseeds, metals—while imports from the EU and China consist mainly of machinery, equipment, transport, electronics, and chemicals.
“This once again confirms the need for profound structural changes in the economy and diversification of foreign economic relations. We cannot continue to depend on a narrow circle of suppliers,” Urakin noted.
At the same time, according to the expert, sociological data demonstrate a certain paradox.
“The most economically advantageous partners for us are Egypt, Spain, Moldova, Algeria, Lebanon, and Iraq. But Ukrainians’ attitude toward most of these countries is neutral or even negative. This indicates that society forms its assessments not on the basis of economic benefits, but mainly on the basis of political statements or events,” he added.
Urakin concluded that this discrepancy between the economy and public opinion could have long-term consequences for Ukraine’s foreign policy.
“The representative offices of foreign countries that are Ukraine’s trading partners should pay more attention to working with Ukrainian society, holding cultural events, supporting humanitarian projects, and forming a positive image. Otherwise, we will continue to have a situation where the country is an important trading partner, but at the same time is perceived negatively by the majority of citizens,” emphasized the founder of Experts Club.
Learn more about the study
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/press-conference/1103619.html
ACTIVE GROUP, EXPERTS CLUB, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, Pozniy, PUBLIC OPINION, SOCIOLOGY, SURVEY, URAKIN, Єременко
In April, Active Group, in collaboration with Experts Club, conducted an online survey of 800 Ukrainians regarding their attitudes toward various countries. The goal was to determine their level of trust and sympathy.
Ukrainians have the most positive views of the United Kingdom (77.2%), Canada (76.3%), and France (74%). Germany has 68.8% support. Attitudes toward the US are divided: 36.1% are positive, 31.2% are neutral, and almost 30% are negative.
Negative attitudes prevail towards Hungary (56%) and Slovakia (34.6%), which is related to their official position on the war. Despite economic ties, China has only 19.6% support, with 42.8% negative.
Japan enjoys high trust (66%), South Korea 49.7%. Turkey receives mixed assessments: 46.4% positive, 12% negative. Brazil and Saudi Arabia are viewed as moderately positive or neutral.
Experts note that Ukrainians value moral support, not just economic ties, and do not recognize “neutrality” without concrete assistance.
“We conduct this important research on an ongoing basis and will continue to do so on a quarterly basis,” commented Oleksandr Pozniy.
” The image of countries in the perception of Ukrainians can be improved through support for projects aimed at rebuilding Ukraine, establishing direct dialogue through embassies and public diplomacy projects, explaining their position through historical context, and not avoiding publicity,” added Maxim Urakin, director of development and marketing at Interfax-Ukraine and founder of the Experts Club analytical center.
The presentation of the study in English is available at link.
Voting in the presidential election began in Romania at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday. The second round features George Simion, representative of the right-wing Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, and Nicușor Dăncilă, the incumbent mayor of the capital Bucharest, who received the most votes in the first round on May 4.
“We voted so that only Romanians decide our future, for Romanians and for Romania,“ Simion told reporters outside a polling station.
“We decide what kind of country we want to be: a country of hope, dialogue, and development,” Dănălescu wrote on Facebook.
According to Reuters, despite the fact that 38-year-old Simion won 41% of the vote in the first round and 55-year-old Dan only 21%, opinion polls show that they have almost equal chances of winning, or show a slight advantage for Simion. Earlier, the Experts Club think tank released a video analysis dedicated to the most important elections in the world in 2025. For more details, see here —
Iran has become the country with the highest level of negative attitudes among Ukrainians, according to a sociological survey conducted by Active Group and the Experts Club analytical center in April 2025.
According to the results, 60.9% of respondents rated Iran negatively (32.9% — mostly negative, 28.0% — completely negative). At the same time, only 5.0% of respondents expressed a positive attitude (2.8% — mostly positive, 2.2% — completely positive). Another 27.9% indicated a neutral attitude, and 6.2% abstained from answering.
“The high level of negativity towards Iran is explained by its foreign policy and alliance with Russia. These results reflect the geopolitical reality,” said Oleksandr Pozniy, co-founder of Active Group.
The presentation of the study is available at the link.
ACTIVE GROUP, DIPLOMACY, EXPERTS CLUB, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, URAKIN
According to the results of a survey conducted by Active Group in collaboration with the information and analytical center Experts Club, the vast majority of Ukrainians do not have a formed opinion about Guyana — 71.8% chose the neutral option.
A positive attitude was expressed by 8.8% of respondents: 6.2% said “mostly positive” and 2.6% said “completely positive.” In contrast, only 3.9% expressed a negative attitude (of which 3.2% said “mostly negative” and 0.7% said “completely negative”). At the same time, 15.5% of respondents were unable to answer this question at all.
“Such a high percentage of neutrality and ‘difficult to say’ responses indicates that Ukrainians are very poorly informed about Guyana. This country is almost absent from the Ukrainian information field and is therefore perceived without strong emotions,” comments Oleksandr Pozniy, co-founder of Active Group.
Ukrainians’ attitude toward Guyana remains largely neutral due to the country’s lack of media presence. This is a typical example of a “blank spot” on the geopolitical map in the mass consciousness.
The presentation of the study is available at the link.
ACTIVE GROUP, DIPLOMACY, EXPERTS CLUB, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, URAKIN
The results of a sociological survey conducted by Active Group in collaboration with Experts Club show that Ukrainians’ attitude toward Venezuela is generally more negative than positive.
19.6% of respondents rated their attitude as negative, of which 15.1% said it was “mostly negative” and 4.5% said it was “completely negative.” At the same time, 17.6% of respondents expressed a positive attitude, including 13.1% who said it was “mostly positive” and 4.5% who said it was “completely positive.” The largest share, 55.7%, took a neutral position, while another 7.1% abstained from answering.
“Negative associations with Venezuela are mainly related to the economic and political crisis in the country. It often appears in the news as an example of a country where the socio-economic situation has deteriorated due to populist decisions. This creates a wary attitude among Ukrainians,” says Maksim Urakin, PhD in Economics and founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center.
Ukrainians perceive Venezuela mainly through the prism of problems that have become known from international news. Although a significant proportion of respondents take a neutral position, the negative image prevails over the positive.
ACTIVE GROUP, DIPLOMACY, EXPERTS CLUB, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, URAKIN
