The key topic discussed at a meeting of Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Pavlo Rozenko and representatives of the mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led by Ron van Rooden was a discussion of the comprehensive reformation of the country's pension system, removing the deficit and balancing the budget of the Pension Fund.

The press service of the deputy prime minister reported last week that Rozenko at the meeting informed the mission on the steps made by the Ukrainian government in 2015 and early 2016 to make order in the country's pension system.

"Despite the absence of formal signatures we were moving forward with the program that had been preliminary agreed with the IMF. We implemented and will implement liabilities to reform the pension system, as we understand that this is what Ukraine and its citizens need," he said.

Rozenko said that the government last year introduced several bills to parliament, including those spelling out the introduction of the defined contribution pension system and removing expenses that are unnatural for the Pension Fund.

"These measures and bringing salaries from the shadows that we anticipate to obtain thanks to the reduction of single social security tax are the steps that could really produce an effect of cutting the deficit of the Pension Fund," he said.

The sides agreed to jointly draw up a general strategy for reforming the pension system and agree the top-priority steps to make order in the pension provision system and removing the Pension Fund's deficit by the end of this year. These steps are to be agreed before the mission finishes its work in Ukraine.