About 56% approve of Zelensky response to coronavirus, 30% for Shmyhal

Ukrainian President Zelensky signed on Apr. 1 to
provide additional social and economic guarantees, both to individuals and
businesses, to compensate the effect of the coronavirus. Among the provisions
of the legislation, approved by parliament on Mar. 30, include raising by four
times the wages of medical workers involved in combatting the coronavirus, up
to doubling the wages of social workers aiding those at home, and enabling the
government to set price limits on goods with anti-epidemic designation and
socially significant goods. The law also removes the value-added tax from
imports of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment to combat the COVID-19
disease, eliminates the excise tax and simplifies the administrative
requirements for producing and buying spirits for disinfectants, and provides
financial aid to small and medium-sized businesses to protect jobs during the
quarantine. Consumers loans taken before 2017 are freed from fines and
penalties.

About 56% of Ukrainians believe President Zelensky has
responded effectively to the coronavirus threat, according to a poll released
on Apr. 1 conducted by the Rating Sociological Group. At the same time, only
38% of the public approved of the Health Ministry’s response, and only 30%
assess as effective the response of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who began
work on Mar. 4. In addition, 49% of the public supports the introduction of a
national state of emergency, 58% support a curfew and 65% support restrictions
on transportation. As for savings to survive the coronavirus quarantine, 63% of
those polled said they have enough for one month, while another 16% said they
have enough for two months. The poll was conducted between Mar. 25 and 30
involving 2,000 respondents.

As of noon, Apr. 2, 20 people have died in Ukraine
from the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus. An estimated 804 patients
have been infected, an increase of 20%, or 669 cases, from the prior day, as
reported by the Center for Public Health at the Health Ministry. “Almost all
the fatalities, 88%, had severe cardiovascular disease, diabetes, tumors, or
kidney or lung disease. So age and the presence of other diseases were the main
predictors of death among COVID-19 patients,” said on Apr. 2 Viktor Liashko,
the chief medical officer of Ukraine.

Zenon Zawada: We agree
with the polls that President Zelensky’s response to the coronavirus has been
more-or-less effective, but we would give the same assessment to PM Shmyhal as
well. The fact that their poll ratings on the coronavirus response diverges so
greatly indicates that Zelensky, probably owing to his celebrity status, enjoys
a certain infatuation among his supporters that leaves him immune to criticism.
That’s especially the case considering Shmyhal took office with an entirely
blank slate. Yet the public is targeting him with its negative sentiment. This
indicates that Zelensky will be able to survive politically for as long as he’s
able to shift the blame for his many political problems on those surrounding
him. It’s entirely possible he maintain a policy of rotating his office head, his
prime minister and his ministers every half year or year.

The fact that COVID-19 deaths have been nearly limited
to those having other illnesses, confirm our view that the government’s
measures have been more-or-less effective. The disease has only hurt the most
vulnerable, which is a sign that the general public is taking the government’s
prescribed quarantine measures seriously. The government proved its
effectiveness with its quarantine measures. Face masks are hard to find
throughout Ukraine, and hospitals were ill-equipped long before the outbreak
hit. Those are things the government can’t solve in a short period of time.

The poll numbers on savings confirm our view that
extending severe quarantine measures beyond the May 8 holiday will have significant
political consequences for the government (though not necessarily for the
seemingly immune Zelensky, with his celebrity status). Ukrainians will need
some source of income by mid-May, and the government has yet to present any
plan to deal with this problem. Removing the travel ban by then for workers to
return to Europe would be one very effective measure to relieve economic
tensions. Another issue is whether European countries will accept them.