KIEV, March 1 – It is impossible without government assistance to resolve the current problems of Ukraine's mining and smelting industry, a basic sector of the country's economy, President Viktor Yanukovych said.

"I think in March we will stimulate the whole mining and smelting industry. We will find ways to do this, to help. It's impossible to resolve [the problems] without the government," he said at a press conference at the Ukrainian House in Kiev on Friday.