KIEV, August 29. /TASS/. The newly-elected Ukrainian parliament at its first session on Thursday voted to appoint Alexei Goncharuk as the country’s prime minister. Goncharuk was proposed by President Vladimir Zelensky and received the support of 290 parliament members.
As he addressed the legislators before the voting, Goncharuk declared that he saw the Ukrainian economy’s growth as the chief task of his Cabinet on the way to resolving all of the country’s other problems. He acknowledged that the new government would have a very hard time.
"You all know our problems: the debts we have inherited, the ruined infrastructures and the war in the east," Goncharuk said. "And we still have corruption. We remain unable to eliminate a situation where the one who rises to power hurries to lay hands on anything that comes his way."
Smuggling, he said, is another major problem, which "must disappear by the end of this year." The new government is faced with the task of achieving economic growth, which is the most important task of all. "We should be growing not by 2%-3%, but at least by 5%-7% a year," Goncharuk said. "This will bring us closer to a level that is regarded as normal in the world."
Another major task Goncharuk mentioned is changing the world’s attitude to Ukraine.
"It’s about image," he said. "Our credit rating speaks for itself. This should be done as quickly as possible. Cooperation with partners must become the basis for such changes."
Goncharuk said a mission of the International Monetary Fund would visit Kiev within weeks to discuss the conditions of a new cooperation program, extended over three to four years.
As for the situation in the east of Ukraine, Goncharuk said that he saw a solution of this issue including war in economic growth. At the same time he believes it is important to enhance Ukraine’s defense capability.
"On the one hand, the army is to equipped properly. On the other hand, investment must be made into the war-stricken regions. We’ve got to see what we should do to demonstrate we are strong enough to keep enemies away from our land," Goncharuk said.