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Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych has said that next week he will hold a meeting dedicated to pension reform. Simferopol, March 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych has said that next week he will hold a meeting dedicated to pension reform.

"Pension reform ...has been suspended, and in fact this sphere has not been reformed for the last five years. I think that next week I will hold such a meeting," he said at a meeting with a group of regional activists of the Crimean Republic in Simferopol on Thursday.

The president noted that at present the deficit of the Pension Fund totals about UAH 22 billion.

According to Yanukovych, the experience of other countries will be studied and the aftermath of the economic crisis will be taken into account when carrying out pension reform.

At the same time the head of the state noted that at present the level of pensions in Ukraine is approximately 40% lower than, for example, in Russia, and has said that in the near future Ukrainian pensions will be at a level at least equal to those in Russia.

"We'll try as quickly as possible to bring Ukrainian pensions into line with Russian ones," he said.