Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has presented a plan of key steps of the Government in 2016 at an extraordinary session of the Government on Thursday, 19 May.

According to him, the main priorities of the Government for 2016 is macroeconomic stabilization, improving the quality of the state administration and public services, the establishment of the rule of law and combating corruption, restoration of public safety and creating conditions favorable to business development.

"The top priority that we set ourselves - we must ensure a high standard of living, but this can be done, no matter who says what, through absolutely stable economic stabilization and long-term economic growth. We can build a high-quality, successful country only if we have a stable, developed and open economy," said Volodymyr Groysman.

One of the main priorities of the Government is to achieve macroeconomic stability. The Head of the Government has noted that over 25 years of Ukrainian independence no structural reforms have been conducted. This led to the shadow economy, corruption, a decline in living standards and competitiveness of the state.

"It is impossible to develop the country when we have the unstable banking system, when we have the incomprehensible inflation, when we have the weak, regulated, closed economy, poor management of state-owned enterprises, the high level of corruption and low credibility and effectiveness of the judicial system. Our key task is to ensure macroeconomic stabilization, which shows its capabilities today, and to ensure macroeconomic growth in the medium term," said the Prime Minister. According to him, "having a huge potential, natural resources, properly managed, "Ukraine is able to reach European standards of living and economic growth.

The Government also will undertake measures to change the quality of governance so that the authorities could adequately address the challenges and make professional decisions, noted Volodymyr Groysman. "Ukraine needs a responsible, public, transparent and professional power," he stressed.

Among high priority steps of the Government will also be establishing the rule of law and curbing corruption. "The threat of corruption is no less important than that we are facing today from our northern neighbor", said the Prime Minister. The Head of Government stressed that corruption, a low level of confidence in the judiciary and low level of the rule of law – all these undermine the credibility of Ukraine and trust of citizens in the state.

The next core objective for the Cabinet of Ministers is the restoration of the security of citizens. "We must reassert our independence, we must regain control over the entire territory of our state and to ensure the safety of citizens inside country", stressed Volodymyr Groysman.

Apart from that, another main task for the Government is to create favorable conditions for business development. "We must provide the environment for the business to enable them to grow", he said.

The Plan of priority measures for the Government has been elaborated during the month in synergy with the Ministries. The presented document is the basis for further discussions and will be finally approved on May 26, announced Volodymyr Groysman. The document will be discussed with the Verkhovna Rada, the National Reform Council and international partners to ensure its best efficiency. Moreover, before the end of the year the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is to prepare a medium-term development strategy for the State, promised the Prime Minister.

Volodymyr Groysman called on the expert community, the public and trade unions to engage in the discussion process and analysis of the Plan of Top Priorities. "It is crucial for us to have feedback. We plan to finally approve it on 26 May. We urge experts, the society, trade unions, federations to involve in the fast high-quality debate", he stressed. “We will be very grateful for your feedback: both for criticism and suggestions. We understand that we could have done a more comprehensive document, but it is probably one of a few documents, which is absolutely real to implement".

The Prime Minister also thanked all the Ministers for the participation in the preparation of the Plan. "The most important thing is not just to form a plan, but more significant is to execute it. The Government of Ukraine is committed to fulfilment of the objectives of the operational plan of our activities", summed up Volodymyr Groysman.