13:38 19.02.2016

Yatseniuk seeks Rada's assistance in confiscating $1.5 bln from Yanukovych's allies for social security

1 min read
Yatseniuk seeks Rada's assistance in confiscating $1.5 bln from Yanukovych's allies for social security

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk says that now there are no budget funds for a 12% increase in 2016, but the gap can be closed if $1.5 billion seized on bank accounts of former President Viktor Yanukovych's allies is confiscated.

"I'd like to tell you frankly that we've got no additional resources at the moment," he said during a Q&A session in parliament on Friday.

Yatseniuk called on MPs to pass a bill authorizing law enforcement agencies to confiscate the $1.5 billion from the former authorities, who, as he claims, keep the money at state-run Oschadbank.

In his words, as soon as the assets are confiscated, they will be transferred to the national budget and spent not only on raising social standards in the country, but also on financing the army and creating new jobs.

Yatseniuk says that it will be difficult for the Ukrainian government to fulfill the 2016 budget amid a considerable decline in oil prices and the plunge of prices of major export-oriented goods produced by Ukraine.

Should the situation with the budget turn to be better than expected, the additional funds could be spent on indexation of social security payments, he added.

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