OREANDA-NEWS. December 12, 2011. The Government's communication centre has hosted a video conference chaired by Serhiy Rybak, Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine. The event has involved area financial divisions’ officials and community leaders located in Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Lviv Oblasts, as well as area managers of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.

The video conference was considering the people’s social support provided by draft budget 2012. Specifically, issues have been raised of social assistance for certain citizen categories, of social benefits, social pensions payment, housing expenditures for Chornobyl-affected people and war veterans, as well as the roads’ quality in settlements, cultural heritage protection and higher education institutions’ graduates’ governmental support.

Speaking to the meeting participants, Deputy Minister emphasized that the Government is aware of problems of the most concern to regions’ population, and has made a lot of steps to solve them. In 2012, specifically:

- The gradual lodging will be kept for peacekeeping soldiers and people affected by Chornolbyl disaster;

- Government support is envisaged for building, reconstructing, repairing public streets and roads in settlements;

- Single direct benefit in the amount of fivefold minimum wage will be paid in favor of graduates having obtained education in medical and pharmaceutical specialties and concluded at least three-year contracts for performance in health care institutions located in rural localities, and for performance in other health institutions as common practice doctors (family doctors), neighbourhood pediatricians and physicians.

Officials of the regions and of the Ministry of Finance have made a note of the efficiency of such meetings not only enabling to hear the regions’ problems but also to find their efficient solutions.

In his summarizing speech Deputy Minister of Finance Serhiy Rybak said that such events as today’s video conference play a significant role in the establishment and development of the constructive dialogue with the regions’ public community. These very meetings encourage the interpretation of basic provisions and priorities of the state’s budget, financial and tax policy, provision of comprehensive answers of the most crucial questions, and identification of the regions’ major problems to solve them rapidly.