Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said he hopes that parliament will support of the government's economic stimulation program.
"The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has prepared an economic stimulation program, the implementation of which requires cooperation with parliament, and I hope that parliament will support it," the president said at the opening of the third session of the Verkhovna Rada.
"I want to stress that the government's tasks in the market economy are not limited to the collection of taxes and the redistribution of resources. We need to build conditions for the development of business, a favorable investment climate, and implement financial instruments for [economic] growth," Yanukovych said, adding that these steps should be implemented at the central and regional levels.
He said there was an important strategic task that requires the joint work of the authorities and the opposition - the implementation of a modernization strategy and speeding up economic and social reform.
In addition, the Ukrainian economy is facing problems that require joint work to solve, he said.
"The main sources of these problems are first of all the continuation of the global economic crisis and the corresponding condition of the commodity markets, as well as very high price of imported gas," Yanukovych said, adding that these problems also include a decline in industrial production and, consequently, a reduction in the rate of the GDP growth, as well as incomplete reforms in social policies.
