Azarov: Ukraine's Olympic prize winners to be rewarded

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will reward all Ukraine's Olympic prize winners and the athletes that were deprived of medals by unfair referees, Ukrainian Premier Mykola Azarov has said.

"We are proud of our Olympic champions. The government will reward all medalists and the athletes that took honorable fourth through sixth places, and those who were deprived of medals by unfair referees. This is my position and insist on it," he said while opening a meeting of the government on Wednesday.

Azarov said that he is satisfied with the results achieved by the Ukrainian team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

At the same time, the premier stressed that Ukraine could have even better results. With this aim, a four-year program will be launched in Ukraine to train the Olympic team for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

As reported, Ukraine's Olympic team took 14th place among nations in the overall medal standings at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Ukraine picked up six gold medals, five silver medals, and nine bronze medals, boosting its total medal count to 20.

In addition, many Ukrainian athletes took fourth through sixth places in various sports competitions at the Olympics.