Ukraine ready to implement comprehensive reforms, says Yanukovych

The prerequisites for the implementation of comprehensive reforms have been created in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said.

"We have created the preconditions for implementing a new course of deep reforms and a systemic modernization of our country, which covers all spheres of public life and completes a new wave of necessary social and economic changes," he said in an annual address to the people at the Ukraina Palace on Thursday.

"I'm reporting that we have the first positive trends in the national economy: business activity and industrial production is gradually growing, tension in the financial sector is falling, the labor market is reviving, and the number of jobs is increasing," he said.

Yanukovych also noted that the new authorities "have in a short period of time managed to stabilize relations with Ukraine's key partners - the EU, the United States and Russia, reach a new level of a dialog and cooperation with international organizations and institutions."

"Ukraine has confirmed its status as a nuclear-free state, which is actively fighting against the proliferation of nuclear materials and technology. We have come substantially closer to signing an association agreement with the European Union," he said.

The president said that the new authorities had also managed to resolve the problem of extremely high prices for natural gas and resume a dialog on mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia.

"As a result, Ukraine is regaining the confidence of investors and international creditors," Yanukovych said.