Fellow Ukrainian citizens!

I heartily congratulate You on the New Year and Christmas!

First of all, I want to thank every Ukrainian family for your hard work, warmth, comfort and hope, that inspire our country. Let the new year brings success to Ukrainians, be filled with good deeds and new ideas. Let it be love, wealth, harmony in all homes, while relatives and friends will never part.

In 2016, the Ukrainian citizens made a lot of good deeds, but most importantly they proved they are capable of achieving significant results and, despite the difficulties, of moving foward to achieve the goal. The passing year has become an important stage when we managed to stop the social and economic slowdown. The growth has been observed in all kinds of economic activities in the real sector of economy.

I express my deep gratitude to everyone who have made possible, due to their hard work, our current and future achievements. We have managed to gradually return the growth of gross domestic product, to enhance investment activity, to preserve macro-financial stability. Inflation processes are slowing down. For over a year Ukraine hasn’t imported Russian gas. Due to the decentralization reform, local budgets grew by UAH 44 billion, which is by 50 percent more than last year. There were increased twofold social standards, thus having grown by 16.1%. There was provided the sum worth about UAH 860 million as an irrevocable assistance for energy efficiency measures: insulation of houses, replacement of windows, boilers or the installation of metering devices. In small towns and villages of Ukraine hub schools have been opened. There are underway vigorous road repair activities. All these prove that our citizens are able to overcome any obstacles and make our native country better.

Moreover, Ukraine has fulfilled all the commitments to the European Union for the introduction of a visa-free regime. I believe that the Association Agreement with the EU will be fully ratified, thereby providing additional impetus to deepen European integration and to ensure the effective implementation of internal reforms.

I am sure that hard times are already behind and the year of 2017 will be a year of further development, which will bring about significant changes in the social, economic, defence, political, cultural and humanitarian spheres. The Government is preparing for the next crucial phase (after the crisis phenomena overcome) – laying a solid basis for sustainable economic development. I believe that together we will manage to overcome all the challenges and achieve success!

Let the most cherished dreams come true in the coming year! I wish all of you good health, harmony and comfort in your families! May our hearts be full with love of others, while our entire country lives in peace and harmony!

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!

Prime Minister of Ukraine                                                                          Volodymyr GROYSMAN