"People are expecting changes and we are ready for the most radical, most stringent and effective reforms in the country in accordance to the current circumstances. The mission will be done," the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk said from the Parliament’s rostrum before the vote for candidates for the membership of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Tuesday, 2 December.

This Government faces difficult tasks, he said: "This is not only the task of the Government, but all of us. This is the reason why the Ukrainian people elected us. This is the reason why the constitutional majority has been formed. And this is a task that we are able to perform if there is and will be further unity among the President of Ukraine, Government and parliamentary coalition."

"The country is devastated by the war. The country is devastated by the trade war with Russia and, first, by Russian military aggression. The country is devastated by the political war. The country needs radical changes and reforms," he emphasized.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk underlined that the Government had managed to reduce state budget expenditures aimed at the maintenance of the state apparatus by UAH 2 billion over the last eight months. He addressed to the MPs that a new law on the state budget, "which must be approved by the end of this year, will further reduce the cost of the state apparatus."

He recalled that the Government had decided to optimize social spending by UAH4.5 billion, and stressed that in 2015 we would also need to "follow the path of optimizing social spending".

"The Government decided to increase spending on national defense and security to UAH19 billion. We should continue to finance national defense and security," Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.

He recalled that the Government had resumed its cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In general, today Ukraine received USD9 billion of various types of international financial assistance, "We have paid off debts that we didn’t take. Taking into account the debt of Naftogaz Ukrainy, gas debts and all external payments, Ukraine paid off USD14 billion while received USD9 billion."

The Prime Minister underlined that the Government would continue to cooperate with foreign creditors as inflow of foreign private investment would be hardly possible in the nearest future. "So, the basis of investment is international financial institutions," he stressed and recalled that on 1 December, he and President of the European Investment Bank Werner Hoyer had signed a EUR15 million-agreement to finance a project for the reconstruction, overhaul and re-equipment of the Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk reminded that two months ago he had appealed to the MPs to adopt a law on the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transportation system, "to stop the construction of South Stream and invite investors into the Ukrainian GTS": "South Stream, which was built by Russia, has been stopped."

On the further cooperation with international financial institutions, the Prime Minister said: "Nobody will give money for nothing. And the fact that our international creditors have highly evaluated the rigidity and accuracy of reforms carried out by Ukraine is, on the one hand, a positive issue, but, on the other, it does not mean that we have the right to halt. The future will be more difficult. We have to overcome these impediments."

On the state budget’s revenues, Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that "as of today the Government collected 5 % more of revenues compare with the data in 2013, despite the fact that the industrial output is minus 10%, despite the fact we’ve temporarily lost the control over Crimea and over some regions in Donetsk and Luhansk.

"So, we will continue to follow this path. Those who earn a lot, have to pay a lot. Those who need assistance, including social one, will receive such assistance. The principle of justice is a basic principle of a new Government of Ukraine", the Prime Minister of Ukraine emphasized.

On external debts, Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that in 2013 foreign debt amounted to USD73.1 billion, and as of today it is USD72.9 billion: "Because of the fall of the exchange rate, which is a challenge and is caused primarily by military aggression, and respectively - instability and natural behavior of domestic and foreign investors, slightly different figures in hryvnia debt. But this is the challenge that we all together, including the National Bank, shall accept and take all measures to stabilize the foreign exchange rate as well as the banking sector."

Among the priorities by the end of the current year Arseniy Yatsenyuk called the adoption of a new Budget code, which is to devote additional financial powers to the local governments, changes to the Tax code in order to reduce the number of taxes and changes in the tax base, to decrease the single social tax as well as to introduce a progressive tax scale: "The fourth task, which follows from the first three, is the adoption of a law of Ukraine on the state budget, extremely rough, with a decrease in the cost of all possible items."

The Prime Minister stressed that 2015 would be more complex than the current, "because the economy has a time log": "Ukraine is heavily affected by the situation in Donbas, it’s too expensive for Ukraine. First of all, this is what you cannot return - the lives of our people. In terms of economy, for six months, we will still feel the downward trend."

"This Government should do what Andrii Sheptytskyi wrote in his famous book "How to build a native house."We have the house footing, so, it’s time to build. This is our joint responsibility to the country-responsibility for the creation of a Ukrainian state, the future of the country as well as our citizens," Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.