Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said that Ukraine is succeeding in the fight against poverty.
He said this in his address on the occasion of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which was posted on the president’s Web site on Wednesday.
“Today the world is experiencing a worsening of the global economic crisis. Many European governments have been forced to cut budget spending on social programs, reduce pensions and wages. But in Ukraine, there are signs of improvement in the condition the poorest population groups. The extreme poverty rate in the country and its depth is the lowest since 2001 and the level of absolute poverty has decreased from 16.8% in 2010 to 14.6% in 2011,” reads the president’s statement.
The president also noted that the implementation of social initiatives from May 2012 had allowed the government of Ukraine to increase pensions by around Hr 120 to 12.9 million Ukrainian pensioners, to resume the payment of compensation to depositors of the former Soviet Sberbank, and to start increasing military pensions.
“At the same time, families with children and unemployed citizens are in the risk group. That is why we are sending state aid for each family and ensuring the timely delivery of the necessary services to them. The new law on employment introduced incentives for the creation of jobs and the employment of young people, people of retirement age, and other vulnerable groups of the population,” reads the statement.
“Certainly, the results we’ve achieved are not sufficient. However, the first positive signs should inspire us to even more intensive work to eradicate poverty. First of all, today the government’s interaction with businessmen and a wide range of public organizations is important. I think that together we will ensure that everyone has a decent standard of living,” Yanukovych said.
