A large rally of the Party of Regions is continuing in Mariyinsky Park in Kyiv.

An Interfax-Ukraine reporter said that a large number of people, holding party and national flags and slogans in support of the current government had occupied the part of the park closer to the building of the Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday.

Party of Regions MPs are delivering their speeches from the stage on Constitution Square. In particular, Vadym Kolesnichenko in his address to the audience criticized the actions of the parliamentary opposition.

The commandant of the tent camp of Party of Regions supporters, Oleksandr Zinchenko, told Interfax-Ukraine that up to 15,000 people are expected to attend the rally on Wednesday. He said that only a few thousand people spent the night in the park.

The commandant also said that they are afraid of provocations from Euromaidan and will protect, if necessary, their rally and its participants.

Zinchenko said that on Thursday, when the parliament plans to adopt the state budget for 2014, about 40,000 participants are expected to gather in Mariyinsky Park on Thursday.

The draft budget was submitted by the government on September 14, 2013, but it was later withdrawn for further consideration.

On December 18, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a revised state budget and tabled it in the Verkhovna Rada.

On December 19, the Verkhovna Rada voted for a resolution drafted by the head of the parliament's budget committee, Party of Regions MP Yevhen Heller, according to which the Verkhovna Rada will adopt the state budget for 2014 on January 16, 2014.