Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman says that an initiative that was backed by the Verkhovna Rada to almost double the salaries of Members of Parliament (MPs) will be rejected.

Last week the Rada voted for conclusions and recommendations put forth by parliamentarians as the feedback for the government-prepared draft national budget for 2017 and now the Cabinet is analyzing the changes proposed by the lawmakers, Groysman said on Facebook.

"Those that are right will be taken into account. But we'll definitely reject some of them. We won't support the parliamentarians' initiative to almost double their own salaries. I think it's not time to. We should first think how to raise common people's income," he said.

He also said that the draft budget proposes an increase in the salaries of teachers and doctors, aiming at raising social standards in general. In his words, the government would only strengthen these positions by second reading.