The national budget for 2017 contains real mechanisms to improve the level and quality of life of Ukrainian citizens. Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Rozenko announced at a meeting of the Council on disability affairs.

"This State Budget has undoubtedly been the most social in the last three years. I would call it – a social budget of the country at war, as the aspect of war still remains a threat to the national security of our country. At the same time we budgeted for 2017 real mechanisms to raise the level and quality of life of our citizens", he stressed.

Pavlo Rozenko noted that the adoption of the state budget supported by 274 parliamentarians appears a powerful signal to the society that the situation in Ukraine stabilizes. "We can assert that the authorities – the President, the Government and the Parliament – are transitioning to the stage of a regular increase of social standards in Ukraine. And in 2017, pensions, salaries and social benefits will grow at rates exceeding inflation rates", said the Vice Prime Minister.

According to him, throughout last two years of economic slowdown and military aggression of Russia the Government had been forced to introduce some very tough and unpopular steps, including the social sphere. "In 2013 we faced the collapse in GDP, Russia's military aggression, as a result - the loss of significant economic and industrial potential. Therefore, these unpopular steps were needed to get our country out of this difficult situation," he said.

"But in 2016, we have seen first signs of economic growth, and therefore got a real chance for increasing salaries and pensions, the growth of all kinds of social benefits, so the budget for 2017 will continue our ideology of raising social standards," stressed Pavlo Rozenko.