Corruption is pervasive in the Ukraine.
Amid all the pressure to root out corruption, I assumed, perhaps naively, that officials in Ukraine would think twice before taking a bribe or pocketing state funds. But when I made this point to a top presidential adviser in early October, he asked me to turn off my audio recorder so he could speak more freely. “Simon, you’re mistaken,” he says. “People are stealing like there’s no tomorrow.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/poll-reveals-what-ukrainians-see-as-key-obstacles-on-ukraines-path-to-eu/ar-AA1jFL9G
The majority of Ukrainians believe that “high levels of corruption” will be Ukraine’s main obstacle to accession to the European Union.