The BEB will measure Ukrainians’ level of trust for the first time: the agency has revealed the source of funding
20 July 17:25
The Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine will conduct its first official public opinion survey on citizens’ level of trust in accordance with the government’s new methodology. To this end, the agency has already allocated funding in the 2026 state budget and is also seeking opportunities to secure international technical assistance. This is stated in the BEB’s response to an information request from the publication "Komersant Ukrainian".
The Bureau Has Allocated Funds for the Survey
In its response to the publication’s inquiry, the Bureau confirmed that the Procedure approved by the Cabinet of Ministers also applies to the Bureau of Economic Security.
The agency reported that it has already allocated funds for conducting the research in the general fund expenditures of the state budget under the 2026 budget program “Leadership and Management in the Field of Economic Security.”
At the same time, the BEB emphasizes that it is also considering an alternative source of funding.
“To ensure the effective use of state resources and meet the priority needs of the security and defense sector amid the Russian Federation’s armed aggression, the EBS is taking steps to secure international technical assistance to assess the level of public trust,” the agency noted in its response to the inquiry.
When will the first survey take place?
Although the government has already approved the new assessment methodology, no specific date has yet been set for the first survey.
The BEB explained that the Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution itself does not set a deadline for the first survey but merely stipulates that such surveys must be conducted at least once a year.
The agency reported that the dates will be determined after organizational preparations are completed.
Who will conduct the survey
The BEB confirmed that the survey will be conducted by an independent polling agency that meets the requirements of the government’s regulations and will be selected by the government agency itself as the survey’s commissioning body.
This approach is provided for by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 394 of March 18, 2026, which established a unified methodology for measuring the public’s level of trust in law enforcement agencies.
What the New Government Methodology Entails
As previously reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", ” the new Procedure establishes a systematic mechanism for assessing public trust in the agencies responsible for carrying out criminal proceedings.
Specifically, this refers to:
- the Economic Security Bureau;
- the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine;
- The National Police;
- The State Bureau of Investigations;
- The Security Service of Ukraine;
- prosecutorial authorities.
Sociologists will assess not only the level of trust in these institutions but also citizens’ expectations regarding the effectiveness of their work.
As a reminder, according to the Razumkov Center, in 2025, the level of trust in the State Bureau of Investigations rose to 39.7%, while trust in the prosecutor’s office, according to a study by Info Sapiens as part of the EU’s “Pravo-Justice” project, reached 29% —the highest figure in the last seven years.
At the same time, the level of trust in the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) stood at about 27–28% at the end of 2025, while Ukrainians are increasingly placing the responsibility for fighting corruption on NABU: while 25.8% of respondents held this view in 2024, that figure rose to 42.6% in 2025 .
The launch of the new government system is intended to ensure uniform rules for evaluating the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies and to allow for regular monitoring of changes in the level of public trust in each institution separately.
