VILNIUS, August 3. /TASS/. Ukraine’s GDP is expected to shrink by more than 7% this year, Ukrainian Economic Development and Trade Minister Aivaras Abromavicius said on Monday.
"The economic situation in Ukraine is very complex," the minister said in an interview with the Lithuanian radio station Zhinyu Radiyas.
Ukraine has been registering a decline in industrial output for the consecutive 38 months while inflation has reached 57%, the economy minister said.
"It is already obvious that the GDP decline in 2015 will be more considerable than in the previous year when it equaled 7%," he said.
Ukraine’s economic decline is the result of its economy’s mismanagement "actually for the past 25 years after Ukraine proclaimed its independence," the minister said.
"As a result, Ukraine has found itself far behind its neighbors such as Poland, Belarus and the Baltic states," Abromavicius said.
"Urgent and profound reforms are needed," the Ukrainian economy minister said.