KIEV, November 13. /TASS/. The level of Ukrainians’ confidence in the authorities has been growing, but the public and large and business quarters first and foremost wish to see not reforms but an end to hostilities in the east of the country, the chief of the Business Sentiment Studies project at the Institute of Economic Research and Political Consultations, Oksana Kuzyakiv said at a presentation of the just-held opinion poll.

According to the surveyed industrial managers, 76.5% of businesses are most eager to see not some institutional changes, but a stop to combat operations in Donbass.

“The hostilities in the East certainly affect businesses in Ukraine, because in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions there are enterprises tightly connected with Ukraine’s economy. They are both consumers and providers,” Kuzyakiv said. She said “the worst problems that Ukrainian businesses have encountered since the war began are those with providers in the east of Ukraine and the severing of logistic chains.”

In general, the Ukrainian businessmen’s trust towards the authorities is higher than last year’s but the main problems remain the same - corruption, violation of property rights and excessive regulation.

“This year, according to the survey half of the polled believe that corruption is widely-spread, and one in three say that it is essential to have important friends in the bodies of state power to address certain issues and be successful in business,” Kuzyakiv said. “More than a third of Ukrainian business people have no confidence in the judicial system.