A large increase in the salaries of Ukrainian military servicemen in the 2016 defense budget will encourage former servicemen to return to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"In the new defense budget 2016 we will foresee a sharp increase in the salaries of Ukrainian military servicemen. Maybe those of you who found yourself in military service will decide to return to the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the new conditions of the contract," the president said while speaking at the Nationwide Forum of ATO Participants in Kyiv on Saturday.

He said that 30,000 land parcels have been provided to Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) participants, which is the half of the required number. He said that 11% of ATO participants have received apartments.

"It is hard to provide funds to give apartments now. However, the state gave firm guarantees that this would be done," he said.

Poroshenko said that 80% of Ukrainians have participated in volunteer movements or helped Ukrainian soldiers in various ways.

"There was the thing that no state in the world showed [such initiatives] – very powerful movements of volunteers, 80% of Ukrainians, irrespective of what language they are speaking, in the east, in the west, in the south or in the north of Ukraine, decided to help the army in various ways," he said.

The president announced the creation of the Association of ATO Participants, saying that 93,000 Ukrainian soldiers have the right to receive the ATO status.

"90% of them – 83,000 – used this right," he said.

Poroshenko said that he plans to demand that the parliament urgently discusses the law on toughening punishments for the violation of the rights of demobilized soldiers.