Azarov: Economic crisis affects Ukraine, but situation better than in 2008

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said he recognizes the to for the Ukrainian economy due to the recession in the global economy, but has said that the situation is much better than it was in 2008-2009, and there is currently no reason to panic.

"There are risks to our economy, and we are speaking about it openly, the president is speaking openly about it... The risks are associated with the recession in the global economy. Some may be unaware that the German economy, for example, is falling (0.5%). Some do not know this, but we know it, and we have to consider it. Ukraine's economy is still growing, by 2%, not falling. And at present we have no reason to panic, nor any alarming signals," the prime minister said in Donetsk on Friday at the celebration of the 69th anniversary of the liberation of Donbas from German occupation.

However, he said that "the crisis hasn't spared Ukraine, it has seriously hit us."

"Thus if we are accountable to our people, we must frankly say what things are like, and we're speaking about it. And we're saying that we currently need to focus on the development of the domestic market, the implementation of infrastructure projects, the activation of the construction sector, the engineering industry etc.," Azarov said.