SIMFEROPOL, March 04. /ITAR-TASS/. A referendum on the status and competences of Ukraine’s autonomous republic of Crimea will be held on March 30, as was planned, speaker of Crimea’s Supreme Council (parliament) Vladimir Konstantinov said on Tuesday.

“The date for the referendum will not be changed,” he said, adding that an earlier date might be “dangerous because of organizational problems.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Crimea’s Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov said that the referendum on the status of the republic may be held earlier than March 30. "I think, the referendum will be held even earlier than March 30," he told a press conference in Simferopol, adding that a date would be set after studying the public opinion. Currently, the legal aspects of the preparations for the referendum were being specified, he said.

Aksyonov stressed that the Crimean government was guided by the opinion and the needs of the republic’s residents. "For us, the main argument is an opinion of Crimeans, but not Kiev," he said in reply to the question what Ukrainian authorities should do for the autonomous republic to be ready for talks.

The questions to be put for vote at the referendum will be published on the official website of the Supreme Council within days.