• Do you believe that the Ukrainian state (the Ministry for Agrarian Policy, the State Committee for the Land Resources, the Cabinet of Ministries) must launch and implement the information policy in the sphere of the land and agrarian reforms?

• Please, give the reasons explaining your opinion.

• To your opinion, is there information policy of the Ukrainian state in the sphere of the land and agrarian reforms?

[Information policy is the set of information measures consciously designed and implemented by the state institutions in order to raise awareness of the audiences directly or indirectly affected by the reforms and to change their attitudes towards and behavior in the process of reforms]

• If there is no such a policy, do you know about any information measures initiated or conducted by relevant state institutions in support of the land and agrarian reforms?

• If there is no such a policy, to your opinion, what are the reasons explaining the absence of such a policy?

There is the lack of the financial and human resources
There is no political will of the senior governmental officials
The reforms are not supposed to benefit rural population at large, that is why the senior state officials consciously choose not to launch such a policy, etc. 

• To your opinion, do senior officials at the Ministry for Agrarian Policy, the State Committee for the Land Resources, the Cabinet of Ministries recognize the need for such an information policy?

• If they do, why they do not launch such a policy?

• If they don’t, what are the reasons behind it?

• [For NGO activists] Did you conduct information measures jointly with the state bodies or with an assistance of the state bodies? How would you evaluate your cooperation with the state institutions?

• How would you estimate the level of awareness of various rural social groups (workers, pensioners, heads of the new enterprises, heads of the rural councils, raion level officials) about the land and agrarian reforms, about the rights and new opportunities of the land and property titles owners?  

• To your opinion, is existing institutional structure of the Ministry and the State Committee adequate for implementing information measures aimed at raising awareness of the direct participants of the reforms?

• From your experience, do relevant regional officials of the Ministry and the State Committee recognize the need for information policy in the sphere of the land and agrarian reforms?

• If they don’t, why?

• If they do, are you aware of any information measures launched by the relevant regional state institutions? Whom did they target? Were they effective?

• Can you name oblast or regions where regional state officials fully recognize the need for the information support of the reform and do actively implement certain information measures in this sphere?

• From your experience, do rural councils or their heads inform their inhabitants about their rights as land and property titles owners? What role do and should they play in the land and agrarian reforms?

• Do you know about any measures the State Committee for the Information Policy, TV and radio broadcasting undertook to provide information support of the land, agrarian or any other reforms the state implements?

• If you do not, to your opinion, what does the State Committee for the Information Policy do?

• From your experience, what do the oblast departments of information and mass media do? Are they primarily subordinated to the State Committee for the Information Policy or to “the governor”? What are their relations with the press departments of the oblast state administrations?

• To your opinion, what is the purpose of the land and agrarian reforms in Ukraine? Who are the beneficiaries of these reforms?

• To your opinion, what would be the optimum or ideal information policy of the Ukrainian state in the sphere of the land and agrarian reforms? (information channels, role of national and local state institutions, rural target groups, content of the message, etc.)

• From your experience, are the Ministry for the Agrarian Policy, the State Committee for the Land Resources, the Cabinet of Ministries open to the journalists, public, civil society institutions?

• [For journalists] Is it difficult for you to get necessary information/comments from the Ministry, the State Committee for the Land Resources, the Cabinet...?

• What kind of information do relevant state institutions usually make public? Do you trust this information?

• How would you evaluate the effectiveness of the press-departments of the Ministry, the Cabinet?

• If you would like to receive necessary information/comments/interview, do you usually address press department or contact the official you know?

• How do relevant senior officials behave themselves when the scandal or crisis arises? Are they available for comments? Do they tolerate alternative or critical interpretations of the events of facts? 

• Are regional branches of the relevant state institutions open to the journalists?

• What kind of information do they usually make public?

• From your experience, are there oblast press departments which are more open to the public and care more about journalists’ needs than others?

• Are the websites of the Ministry, the Cabinet, other state institutions helpful for you?

• Is it true that the Juschenko’s government did make efforts to make the government more open to journalists and the public?

• How do relevant officials react to the critic by journalists?

• Have you been personally persecuted by the state institutions because of your publications?

• Have you been warned by the state institutions because of your publications?

• How would you evaluate the professional qualifications of the journalists covering the issues of the land and agrarian reforms?

• Is the media coverage of the land and agrarian reforms adequate, comprehensive, unbiased?

• What are the characteristics of the main electronic and printed national mass media covering the land and agrarian reforms (audience, frequency of publications/broadcasts, owners, subscription etc)?

• Are oblast and raion newspapers independent in covering the issues of the land and agrarian reforms?

• Do you know about any NGOs, international organizations/projects which provide information support of the land and agrarian reforms?

• Did or do you cooperate with them? How would you evaluate your cooperation? How would you evaluate the effectiveness of their information measures?

• How long do you work in the sphere of the land and agrarian reforms/agriculture?
• What positions did you hold before the current job?
• What educational background do you have?