Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma vowed Friday June 27 to bankrupt those enterprises that fail to pay off their wage arrears.
Kuchma said a new plan to level the mountain of unpaid wages will be developed by his administration in the near future and sent to Parliament.
Under the new program, government agencies as well as public and private firms which owe back salaries to their employees will not be allowed to increase wages until the debt is fully paid off. The president also spoke of auctioning basic assets of the debtor companies, with proceeds earmarked for payment of the wages. The money will also be used to start bankruptcy procedures against these companies if they fail to pay the wage debt within six months.
Presidential Administration Chief Yevhen Kushnarev said at a July 1 briefing that further details on the new program will be released via a presidential decree.
The government now owes Hr 4.8 billion in back wages and benefits.
(Material from Interfax-Ukraine was used in this report.)
