The payment of compensation to depositors of the former Soviet Sberbank will continue in 2013, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said at a meeting of the government on Wednesday.

"Three million citizens that requested for compensation payments from Sberbank they failed to receive in previous years have clearly seen the restoration of fairness. The payment of compensation will continue next year," Azarov said, according to the information and public liaisons department of the Cabinet of Ministers.

As reported, earlier Azarov has said that the payment of Soviet era defaulted bank deposits will continue in 2013. "This item of expenses has been retained, and, of course, these payments will continue," he said at the parliament on December 13.

In 2008 the government led by Yulia Tymoshenko decided to pay UAH 1,000 as compensation to depositors of the Soviet-era savings bank. At that time around 6.4 million people received compensation that was estimated by UAH 5.8 billion.

In March 2012, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych instructed the government to pay compensation in June-December 2012 to the depositors that had been added to a special register by January 1, 2012. The government allocated UAH 6 billion for this purpose.