KIEV, Dec. 24 – The Ukrainian government expects to eliminate the deficit of the Pension Fund in 2013 or 2014 and launch the second, accumulative stage of the pension system, Deputy Prime Minister and Social Policy Minister Serhiy Tyhypko said.

"We may launch such an accumulative system in 2013... At most in 2014, we will balance the budget of the Pension Fund, but if the situation improves, then this might happen earlier," he said during an hour of questions to the government in parliament on Friday.

Tyhypko said that the Pension Fund's budget was UAH 30 billion in 2009 and it dropped to UAH 26.6 billion in 2010. He noted that next year the deficit would fall to UAH 18 billion if a pension bill proposed by the government is adopted, and, otherwise, it would drop to UAH 20 billion.