Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has instructed relevant services and agencies to prepare for spring floods in advance.

"Winter is not over yet, weathermen forecast winter weather for at least another six weeks. The Balkan cyclone in the coming days will bring sleet and heavy rains to the western, southwestern and northwestern regions of Ukraine. At the same time, the central and northern regions will also have snowy and rainy weather. There may also be severe floods," he said at a government meeting on Wednesday.

In this connection, the premier ordered Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Minister Hennadiy Temnyk together with the State Service for Emergency Situations to set clear targets to public utilities and to monitor their execution.

"Everything must be cleaned up and repaired. I order the Emergency Situations Services, the Defense Ministry, the Regional Development Ministry, the Infrastructure Ministry, the Health Ministry under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Vilkul to create an inter-agency task force to prepare for and respond to the floods," Azarov said.

Starting from next week the government will regularly hear reports by the Emergency Situations Services about their progress in this area, the premier said.