On April 1, RPR and CSO opinion leaders met with 20 journalists from the U.S., Germany, Bulgaria and Georgia to discuss outcomes of presidential elections, general progress of reforms and human rights situation. This visit to Ukraine was part of a study trip organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

The 2019 Presidential Elections in Ukraine were transparent and were held without any significant violations that could affect the outcome. The most widespread violation – people could not find themselves in the register of voters. These and other issues were discussed during the discussion “Ukraine Overview: Elections, Reforms and Way Forward” held.

The discussion mostly focused on the course and results of the first round of presidential elections in Ukraine.

Inna Borzylo, executive director of Centre UA, said that for this year’s presidential campaign, candidates spent significantly more money than on the 2014 campaign.

“The main expenditure item was TV commercial. Poroshenko financed his campaign using his own funds only (100%), Volodymyr Zelensky’s campaign was financed at the expense of his own funds by 70%, while Tymoshenko was mainly relying on the money of her party, said Borzylo, pointing out that in fact the candidates spent on their campaign double what they stated officially.

Oleksii Haran, Research Director of Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, drew attention to the fact that since Russia’s aggression in 2014, the geopolitical focus of Ukrainian voters has changed considerably: pro-Russian position is now adhered to by 10-12% of citizens only.

“Most voters support the integration of Ukraine into the European Union and NATO. After the election of a new President, the pro-European course of our state will remain unchanged,” says Haran.

Mykhailo Zhernakov, Director of DEJURE Foundation, commented on the difference in the voting results throughout the territory of Ukraine and at foreign polling stations:

“Ukrainians living abroad does not directly deal with the judicial system and other government agencies in Ukraine, therefore they do not have a complete picture of corruption in our country.”

In Ukraine, unlike Western powers, a lot of money is spent on political advertising, says Taras Shevchenko, co-chairman of the RPR Board, director of the Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law.

“Money, television and lack of control over the finances spent are the main components of the election campaigns in Ukraine,” said the co-chairman of the RPR Board.