The personnel decisions of Bankova, publicly presented as an update, turned out to be a kind of test for society regarding the realism of expectations. On the one hand, most people notice and are generally inclined to interpret the reshuffles as a beneficial move. On the other hand, voters are tired of constant reshuffles in legislative and executive bodies, even if they are presented as the arrival of "new faces".
These are the results of sociological research presented by Active Group, as reported by UNN.
The authors of the study directly state:
"It is no longer enough for society to simply replace one name with another. People want to see an update of the system itself, not just the people in that system."
They add: this is an important framework, because current personnel changes can provide an emotional credit of trust, but they will not replace the demand for rules of the game.
Survey data: high awareness and a cautious positive towards the benefits of renewal
The online panel survey was conducted on January 31 and February 1, 2026, among 2000 respondents. The margin of error does not exceed 2.2%.
The first signal is simple: the topic has entered mass consciousness. When asked if they had heard about personnel updates, respondents answered the following:
- 80% - had heard;
- 14% had not heard;
- 6% said they had heard for the first time.
Thus, the issue of personnel reshuffles goes beyond the "professional" audience of sociologists, political scientists, and analysts and becomes interesting to the average Ukrainian.
The second signal is even more interesting: the assessment of the consequences of personnel decisions for the country did not show strong polarization. According to the speakers - the company's director Oleksiy Pozniy and founder Andriy Yeremenko - Ukrainians are practically unanimous in one thing: harm does not outweigh positive results.
"Ultimately, the overall benefit is 43%, "hard to say" - 38%, while "harm" is only 18.4%," the speakers note.
And they explain: the formula "benefit or uncertainty" outweighs "harm," and this indicates the readiness of part of society to at least observe personnel decisions without negativity.
Why the update was not obvious and qualitative
The key conclusion of the study during the press conference was formulated as follows: 42.5% of respondents perceived personnel reshuffles as an update, while 46.7% of Ukrainians rather think that it is not an update. This indicates an almost even distribution of assessments in society. This is not about personal sympathies for individuals, but about the approach to defining the very concept of renewal. For citizens, this is primarily associated with changes in the quality of management, the level of transparency, and the presence of tangible results, rather than with personnel rotations.
The speakers note: personnel reshuffles give hope, but without euphoria, without faith in quick results. Rather, it is a chance than a conviction.
Hope and despair: the majority chooses hope, but without a cult of personality
To the question about the emotional effect of the reshuffles, the answer is positively restrained:
- more hope – 52.1%;
- more despair – 29.1%;
- 19% - undecided.
As one of the speakers summarizes, society has chosen "a state of checking those actions and decisions that the Ukrainian government is currently making and publicly promoting."
For the authorities, this is comfortable only at first glance. Because checking means a demand for evidence: results in foreign policy, defense, technological solutions, as well as accountability for decisions.
Expectations from the update: positive in foreign policy and defense, pessimism - in corruption and economy
The study outlines where society is ready to see a plus from personnel changes, and where it does not believe in miracles.
Ukrainians want to see the highest expectations for improvements in foreign policy, negotiations, and state defense (41% and 39% respectively). Next come innovations and technologies: 19.4% expect strengthening, 9.1% of respondents expect weakening.
However, in the anti-corruption sphere, the picture is reversed: 13% expect strengthening in overcoming corruption, while 22% expect weakening.
Respondents do not believe in changes in the economy and overcoming corruption, the work of law enforcement agencies, and social policy.
It follows from this that society is ready to recognize the effect where decisions are more quickly visible (defense, negotiations, technological projects), and does not believe in systemic virtues where institutional will and conflict of interest are needed (corruption, law enforcement system, social policy).
What follows from the moods of Ukrainians: two practical lessons for the government and the country
The first lesson: personnel reshuffles work as a short political tool and provide a credit of hope, but they do not close the demand for institutional changes. As the participants of the discussion formulated, the usual and correct way to renew power is elections, which are now practically technically impossible due to the war. The vacuum of elections is filled by the self-renewal of the system through the decisions of the president and parliament. This is better than nothing, but the accumulation of demand for a transparent procedure will increase.
The second lesson: the main area of distrust is anti-corruption, law enforcement agencies, economy, and social policy. If the government wants to turn hope without euphoria into stable support, it will have to show not a PR effect, but a change in practices. Society directly says: we do not expect a serious fight against corruption. This is a toxic basis for any renewal.
Reference
The study was conducted by specialists from Active Group using the SunFlower Sociology online panel. The method is self-completion of questionnaires by Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and older. The sample size is 2000 respondents, representative by age, gender, and regions of Ukraine. Data collection period: January 31 - February 1, 2026. The theoretical error at a confidence probability of 0.95 does not exceed 2.2%.
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