OREANDA-NEWS. July 09, 2010. President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych met with Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Alexander Stubb.

Viktor Yanukovych expressed hope that the official visit of the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs to Ukraine will open a new page in relations between our countries. The President stressed that Finland is a very important and cordial friend of Ukraine. "We consider relations with Finland an opportunity to feel a new breeze in many areas of country’s development and especially its economy," said the President.

Viktor Yanukovych noted that Finland has one of the best economies in the world and "has long been surprising the world with its innovations and approaches to solving economic issues".

Ukraine, he said, is interested in studying this experience, because it has launched a course of reforms, primarily in the economy. That is what activity of the newly established Committee on Economic Reforms is directed at. In this context, the President noted that reforming the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is also planned in order to "economize" its activities.

He noted that the people who participated in implementing reforms in Finland are members of the Committee on Economic Reforms. "They have experience in these reforms thanks to which, among other factors, Finland has one of the strongest economies in the world," said Viktor Yanukovych.

During the meeting Viktor Yanukovych pointed to improvement of the situation in Ukrainian economy. Thus, he added, over the last five months national GDP growth was about 6.1 per cent. He also noted that the new government significantly reduces budget deficit: "At the beginning of our work, in March, the budget deficit was 11.4 per cent. In April we approved the state budget with the deficit of 5.6 per cent." The President also added that it would be reasonable to review 2010 State Budget after the end of the first half of this year.

"We will be reviewing the Budget after the end of the first half of this year and we have already submitted suggestions. For example, we will reduce the deficit to 4.9 per cent," emphasized the President of Ukraine. According to him, in order to achieve that, numerous reforms are needed. "We need to make the economy work more efficiently," said the Head of State.

"To ensure that we will be cutting budget expenditures and will motivate business to invest in the economy," said the President, adding that a set of measures that will create proper conditions for this has already been elaborated.