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The growth of social standards ahead of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine will result in a heavy burden for taxpayers, first of all, for the small and medium business, Head of the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Union Oleh Tiahnybok has said.

“According to the State Statistics Service, industrial production in Ukraine in September this year fell by 7% compared to September 2011. A rapid pace of decline was reported in the oil processing (30%), instrument making (25%) and engineering (20%) sectors,” Svoboda’s press service quoted him as saying.

He said the decline in industrial production was leading to a rise in prices because of the dominance of imported goods, unemployment, and a significant decrease in revenues to the state budget. Accordingly, there are no funds to pay pensions and salaries to employees of budget-sustained institutions, or to provide social assistance, Tiahnybok said.

“In these circumstances, any so-called ‘social initiatives’ of the government led by [Prime Minister Mykola] Azarov and [Deputy Prime Minister Sergiy] Tigipko are pure populism ahead of the elections. It’s impossible to ensure a rise in wages and pensions, cheap housing loans and payments to depositors of the former Soviet Sberbank amid such a rapid fall in the level of industrial production, and, accordingly, a significant reduction in the replenishment of the state budget. It’s possible to make only empty promises and give petty pre-election handouts, which the government passes for the ‘improvement of social standards,'” Tiahnybok said.