President meets Government officials of agricultural block

The President noted that he expects the Government to make professional steps in improvement of the situation in the domestic agricultural sector. "We must use every opportunity to raise the level of agricultural production, so that those, who work in rural areas, felt that the state cares for them", said Viktor Yanukovych.

Particular concern President Yanukovych expressed about the possibility of rapid growth of prices for fuel and lubricants during the spring field works and requested the Government to find a way to prevent this. The appropriate work, he said, should be conducted with both domestic oil refineries and importers of fuel and relevant memorandum should be signed

Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Slauta informed the President that the development of immidiate anti-recessionary measures in agriculture is almost complete. The draft program includes such measures as providing affordable loans to farmers.

Agrarian Policy Minister Mykola Prysiazhnyuk informed President Yanukovych on the progress in developing of a program of systematic reforms in agriculture. "We see that the potential of agriculture, provided good approach and decent motivators, allows increasing the GDP by 4 to 5 times", he said.