KYIV. April 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) have noted the improvement of the business climate in Ukraine: the corresponding index in 2016 rose to plus 0.06 from plus 0.01 in 2015 (on a scale from minus 1 to plus 1), according to the results of the "Annual assessment of the business climate 2016."

"The index has improved by 5 percentage points. This not much but nevertheless it is a positive trend," the coordinator of the analytical component of the USAID LEV program, the executive director of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, Oksana Kuziakiv, said at a press conference at Interfax- Ukraine in Kyiv.

According to the results of the survey, low demand became the main obstacle to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in 2016. It ousted the "unfavorable political situation," which was the main obstacle in 2015, to the second place.

The optimism of small and medium-sized enterprises regarding the short-term plans has grown, while its growth rate relative to the two-year plans has slightly decreased. This suggests that there is no time for "postponing" the reforms, the expert explained.